N. Korea slams US-led naval exercise, vows to respond with 'deterrence of new level'
Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise takes place off the coast of Hawaii, July 22, in this photo released by the US Navy July 24. Yonhap
North Korea on Tuesday denounced a recent U.S.-led multinational naval exercise as a "war rehearsal" and threatened to respond with a "deterrence of new level."
An article, attributed to "a military commentator" and published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), pointed to the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise as evidence of deepening military cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan, and called it "a war rehearsal of aggression."
RIMPAC, the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise, took place in and around the Hawaiian Islands from June 24 to July 31.
The article cited the expanded operational roles played by South Korea and Japan in the drills as proof of Washington's push for trilateral interoperability and an attempt to "establish an absolute military hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region."
"The deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet openly said that the commanding role of the ROK and Japan was not a symbolic one but for the actual operation," the article said, using South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
"This goes to prove that RIMPAC, the largest-ever naval drill in the world, is, in fact, a war rehearsal of aggression led by the U.S., Japan and the ROK."
The commentary also took aim at recent South Korea-U.S. military activities, including the Buddy Squadron air drills and combined joint sustainment training, characterizing them as preparations for a contingency on the Korean Peninsula.
It warned the trilateral alliance has "already crossed the red line," accusing it of "threatening global peace and security."
"The threat posed by the trinity of the U.S., Japan and the ROK is being settled as a new security crisis in the Asia-Pacific region," the article argued.
It reiterated North Korea's resolve to bolster deterrence, saying, "It is the DPRK's invariable mode of controlling situation and crisis to response to a threat of new level with a deterrence of new level." DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.