N. Korean provocation cannot stop US-S. Korea joint military drills: NSC coordinator
A "strategic cruise missile" is fired from the 8.24 Yongung submarine from Kyongpho Bay in the East Sea at dawn in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), March 12. Yonhap
North Korea's continued provocations will not stop the United States from conducting joint military exercises with South Korea, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) said Tuesday.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday (Korea time), marking its fifth missile launch this year.
"If they (missile launches) are designed to disrupt or delay alliance's training events, then they will fail," NSC coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told a telephonic press briefing.
"We are going to continue to train with our ROK allies," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.
The North's latest missile provocation came one day after Seoul and Washington launched a joint military drill, known as Freedom Shield.
"There's not going to be any change to our training with our Korean allies," Kirby reiterated.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command earlier said the North Korean missiles fired Tuesday did not pose an immediate threat to the U.S. or allies, but pointed out that the missile launches were in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
North Korea fired an unprecedented 69 ballistic missiles in 2022, each in violation of Security Council resolutions.
Pyongyang has warned of "overwhelming actions" against joint military exercises of South Korea and the U.S., accusing them of being aimed at invading the North.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price dismissed the accusation on Monday, saying the joint military drills are "routine" and "purely defensive" events.
Price said in a telephonic press briefing on Tuesday that the issue of joint military exercises can be discussed with North Korea should the reclusive country decide to engage in dialogue, noting the country has refused to do so.
"But were that to be the case, were the DPRK to take us up on this (dialogue offer), we would look to see if we could devise practical steps that could help to advance what is that longer term objective of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said when asked if the U.S. may consider scaling down or even halting joint military exercises if North Korea returned to dialogue.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
"I am not in a position today to say whether any of the exercises you have referred to would be implicated as part of those practical steps," added Price. "But the practical, specific steps that we may be in a position to take with the DPRK were (the DPRK) to engage, that would be the subject of dialogue and diplomacy, the very dialogue and diplomacy in which the DPRK has refused to engage."
Price emphasized that U.S. commitment to the security of its allies will remain unchanged regardless.
"We are always going to have an ironclad commitment to the security of our treaty allies, including the ROK and Japan in this case. We are always going to remain committed to the extended deterrence that we afford to our treaty allies," he said. (Yonhap)