By Lee Min-hyung
North Korea has stepped up criticism of South Korea and the United States for their resumption of joint marine exercises, calling the move a provocative act against the ongoing peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula.
The verbal denunciation came a week after the allies resumed the Korea Marine Exercise Program (KMEP) for two weeks in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Seoul and Washington suspended a series of joint military drills this year in consideration of the reconciliatory relations between the two Koreas, but the allies decided to resume the drill to enhance defense readiness here.
“Seoul and Washington should stop such a provocative act and remain consistent in the ongoing tension-easing on the peninsula by stopping any military exercises,” Rodong Sinmun, the North's official mouthpiece, said Monday.
The regime went on to denounce the South and the U.S. for resuming the drill, which Pyongyang said was a move against the recent inter-Korean military agreement.
“The drill is a breach of the inter-Korean military agreement under which both sides agreed to remove any threats for possible war and ease tension across the peninsula,” said the newspaper.
The agreement was signed in September during the third summit this year between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Under the agreement, both sides agreed to take steps to disarm inter-Korean border areas and continue easing tension on the peninsula.
Maeari, a propaganda outlet, also criticized Seoul and Washington for the decision to resume the drill.
“Whether a drill is small or large, any kind of military exercises are unforgivable,” it said. “South Korea should continue fulfilling the joint military agreement with North Korea.”
Despite the verbal denunciation, the South's Ministry of National Defense said Monday it did not have any plans to stop the annual drill.
“The KMEP has been conducted annually, so we are going to continue to carry out the drill this year,” ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said in a media briefing.
The KMEP had been suspended since this May when Seoul and Washington made the decision in consideration of the North's rare gesture for peace and its pledge for denuclearization.
But both sides decided to resume the drill to maintain defense readiness here.