The new state agency KCNA accused the US, Japan and South Korea of hiding “malicious targets” towards Pyongyang.
North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said the joint drills by the United States, South Korea and Japan had a “malicious goal” towards the North and were part of a dangerous prelude to the establishment of the North. an “Asian version of NATO”.
The reports on Wednesday’s KCNA came hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan are scheduled to attend NATO’s annual summit in Madrid as observers for the first time. .
Officials from Seoul and Tokyo will meet US President Joe Biden at the summit to discuss North Korea, the first such trilateral summit since 2017. The three countries will also conduct an exercise. A combined missile detection and tracking battle near Hawaii in August called the Pacific Dragon.
“The United States is getting worse at military cooperation with its countries without regard to the main security needs and concerns of Asia-Pacific countries,” KCNA said. speak.
“The plan to form a US-Japan-ROK military alliance, fueled by Japan and South Korea’s submission to the US, is clearly a dangerous prelude to the creation of the ‘Asian version of NATO. ‘,” KCNA said, accusing Washington of promoting a new Cold War.
KCNA cited a separate commentary by Kim Hyo-myung, a researcher at North Korea’s Association for International Political Studies, who said that NATO was responsible for the war in Ukraine and that there were “signs ominous signal that sooner or later there will be black waves in the North Atlantic. will disrupt the calm in the Pacific.”
Kim wrote: “NATO is nothing more than a servant to the realization of the US hegemonic strategy and an instrument of local aggression.
In a similar statement over the weekend, North Korea’s foreign ministry said joint military drills with South Korea and Japan showed hypocrisy over its offers to join and engage in diplomatic dialogue. America without conditions.
North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year, including its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, and there are concerns that the country may be preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the first time. first since 2017.
Korea and Japan are allies of the United States, but their relationship with each other has become strained due to historical tensions over the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910-1945.
Washington has pushed Seoul and Tokyo to cooperate more in the face of threats from North Korea and against China’s growing influence.
