North Korea warned the U.S. that its continued military drills with South Korea could lead to a “thermonuclear war,” according to North Korean state media.
“A thermo-nuclear war, the first ever in history, is more than likely on the Korean peninsula,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
This comes as the U.S. and South Korean militaries have begun their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield computer-simulated command post exercise, which both armies conduct every year to make sure the Alliance is prepared to protect the Republic of Korea and promote security and stability in Northeast Asia.
“The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region,” U.S. President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a joint statement.
The allied nations have agreed to ramp up ballistic missile defenses to counter North Korea’s nuclear missile threat, but the KCNA reported that authorities said the summit between the allies was intended to create a “nuclear war provocation.”
“If the agreements fabricated at the Camp David Resort are additionally put into practice in the war drill … the possibility of outbreak of a thermonuclear war on the Korean peninsula will become more realistic,” the state-run news agency said.
Nuclear tensions between the North and the Alliance are heating up following the former country’s frequent testing of ballistic missiles.
Most recently, North Korea restarted its short-range ballistic missile tests, in which the missile was fired from the northern Tongchang Ri region of the North until it landed in the waters off its east coast.
South Korean and Japanese assessments said that the missile flew roughly 800 kilometers (500 miles), which suggests that it could have been aimed at South Korea.
The launch was discussed over the phone by the top nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan, and the U.S., who strongly denounced it as a provocative act that endangers regional stability.
According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, the three countries agreed to improve their cooperation to respond to the North’s behavior with a strong international statement. South Korea’s military said it will carry out the remaining joint exercises with the U.S. and maintain a readiness to “overwhelmingly” respond to any provocation by North Korea.
