Kim Tong-hyung, The Associated Press Published Wednesday, February 1, 2023 8:00 PM EST Last Updated Wednesday, February 1, 2023 9:50 PM EST
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea threatened Thursday the “strongest response” to expanding United States joint military exercises with South Korea to counter the North’s growing nuclear weapons ambitions, saying the allies were pushing tensions to “extreme red line.”
Pyongyang’s foreign ministry statement came in response to comments by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said in Seoul on Tuesday that the United States would increase the deployment of advanced military assets on the Korean Peninsula, including fighter jets and aircraft carriers, as it boosts joint training and operational planning with South Korea.
South Korea’s defense ministry said the United States flew B-1B bombers and F-22 and F-35 fighter jets in an exercise with South Korean fighter jets on Wednesday over South Korea’s western waters in its latest show of force. The United States and South Korea also plan to hold a simulation exercise this month aimed at sharpening their response if North Korea uses a nuclear weapon.
In a statement attributed to an unidentified spokesman for its foreign ministry, North Korea said the expansion of allied exercises threatened to turn the Korean Peninsula into a “huge military arsenal and a more critical war zone.” The statement said the North was ready to counter any short-term or long-term military challenge from allies with “the most overwhelming nuclear force.”
“The military and political situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region has reached an extreme red line due to the reckless military confrontation maneuvers and hostile actions of the US and its vassal forces,” the spokesman said.
North Korea has for decades described the United States’ joint military exercises with South Korea as rehearsals for a potential invasion, although allies describe the drills as defensive.
Last year, North Korea stepped up its own weapons demonstrations, while allies resumed large-scale training that had been scaled back for years. North Korea’s actions included multiple missile and artillery launches, which it described as simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean and US targets.
“The DPRK will respond most strongly to any US military attempt on the principle of ‘nuclear weapon for nuclear weapon and all-out confrontation for all-out confrontation!'” the North Korean spokesman said, referring to the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“If the US continues to deploy strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula and its surroundings, the DPRK will clarify its deterrence activities necessarily according to their nature,” the spokesman said.
Jeon Ha Gyu, a spokesman for South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said the ministry had no immediate comment in response to North Korea’s statement. He said the allies’ recent air exercises were intended to demonstrate the reliability of the US’s “extended deterrence”, referring to a commitment to use the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend South Korea. He declined to disclose the exact number of US and South Korean aircraft participating in the exercise.
Austin’s visit came as South Korea sought stronger assurances that the United States would quickly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to defend its ally in the face of a North Korean nuclear attack.
Concerns about South Korea’s security have increased after North Korea launched dozens of missiles in 2022, including potentially nuclear-capable ones designed to strike targets in South Korea and the US mainland. North Korea’s increased testing activity has been punctuated by threats to pre-emptively use its nuclear weapons in a wide range of scenarios in which it perceives its leadership as threatened, including conventional clashes or non-war situations.
At a news conference after their meeting, Austin said he and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Yong-sup had agreed to further expand their joint military exercises, including more live-fire demonstrations. They pledged to continue the “timely and coordinated” deployment of US strategic assets to the region.
They said their countries’ resumption of large-scale military exercises last year effectively demonstrated their combined capabilities to deter North Korean aggression. Allies have scaled back training in recent years to make room for diplomacy with North Korea during the Trump administration and because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Korea and the United States have also been strengthening their security cooperation with Japan, which has included trilateral missile defense and anti-submarine warfare exercises in recent months amid North Korea’s provocative weapons tests.
“We deployed fifth-generation aircraft, F-22s and F-35s, deployed a carrier strike group to visit the peninsula. You can look for more of this type of activity going forward,” Austin said.
Tensions could rise further in the coming months as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has redoubled his nuclear ambitions.
During a policy conference in December, Kim called for an “exponential increase” in nuclear warheads, the mass production of battlefield tactical nuclear weapons aimed at South Korea and the development of more powerful long-range missiles designed to reach the mainland of the USA.
Experts say Kim’s nuclear push is intended to force the United States to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and then negotiate much-needed economic concessions from a position of strength.
Nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea have been stalled since 2019 over disagreements over easing U.S.-led economic sanctions against the North in exchange for steps by North Korea to end its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
North Korea’s spokesman said Pyongyang was not interested in any contact or dialogue with the United States while maintaining its “hostile policy and line of confrontation,” accusing Washington of maintaining sanctions and military pressure to force the North to “unilaterally disarm.”
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