North Korea slams US over back-to-back joint military drills in West Pacific

Seoul, Aug 14 (IANS) North Korea on Thursday denounced the United States for its recent back-to-back military exercises in the West Pacific, conducted jointly with other countries, including Australia and Japan, calling them "highly provocative."

"If the US and its followers obsessively pursue military actions that undermine peace and security in the Asia Pacific region, they will inevitably provoke protest and retaliation from countries in the region," reports Yonhap, quoting the state-run Korean Central News Agency's (KCNA's) article.

The KCNA took issue with two recent US-led multinational military exercises: Talisman Sabre, conducted last month in northeastern Australia with 18 other nations, and a military exercise in the Philippine Sea of the Western Pacific from August 4-12, involving Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway and Spain.

"Needless to say, they were highly sensational and provocative both in content and in elements," the KCNA noted.

The news agency said the Korean Peninsula will also face another "manic" exercise, referring to the annual summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield joint drills between Seoul and Washington, scheduled for August 18-28.

"It is too obvious that joint military exercises by the US and its followers will have very negative consequences for the security situation of countries in the region," the KCNA said, warning that the countries' willingness to respond physically should not be overlooked.

Earlier on August 12, North Korea had conducted artillery firing drills to bolster its combat readiness posture, the North's state media reported, as South Korea and the United States prepare to kick off their joint military exercise next week.

Tactical artillery subunits of the North's military conducted a "firing practice contest" in accordance with a combat drill plan from the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.

The North's move came a week before Seoul and Washington are scheduled to launch their annual summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, set for August 18-28.

North Korea had said the firing contest was aimed at "perfecting the capability to fight a war and battle readiness of the entire army."

The firing drills "served as an occasion to demonstrate the strong will of the army to thoroughly contain military gangsters in the land adjacent to the border and reliably defend the security," the KCNA said in an English-language statement.

The latest exercise was overseen by Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the ruling party's Central Military Commission. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not attend.

--IANS

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