Response to U.S., allies' intense drills will be adequate - N. Korea
MOSCOW/PYONGYANG. March 31 (Interfax) - The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK) has strongly reacted to a statement by the United States President in The Hague about plans to step up joint combat training of the U.S., South Korean and Japanese armed forces near the Korean peninsula.
"At the recent tripartite meeting of the U.S., Japanese and South Korean leaders in The Hague, which focused on the denuclearization of North Korea, the U.S. president made an unambiguous provocative statement about an intention to intensify joint military drills," the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a commentary, a copy of which was obtained by Interfax.
The motives of such actions by Washington are "baseless" and as the hostility of the U.S. and its allies rises, North Korea's retaliation will be adequate, Pyongyang said.
"The U.S. is justifying itself [by saying] that the joint military drills held in another country and aimed at seizing Pyongyang are ostensibly 'defensive' and 'regular.' And the regular drills the DPRK conducts on its own territory, the U.S. calls them 'provocations' for no good reason," North Korea said.
"Our retaliatory measures aimed at further bolstering North Korean forces of military deterrence and demonstrating its might, too, will turn into more regular and annual processes," the ministry said.
Last week the DPRK held numerous launches of the Skud-class short-range missiles. On Sunday, the North Korean authorities reported that yet another nuclear test could be held in the future. All these steps by Pyongyang were timed to coincide with the U.S.-South Korean military drills held near the Korean peninsula.
Pyongyang conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, prompting international condemnation and tougher sanctions on the part of the United Nations.