DPRK condemns US-Japan-ROK joint drill

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea denounced a joint drill by the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea on Sunday, calling such trilateral military maneuver "main danger factors heightening the level of military tension on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity."

On Friday, the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea "waged a provocative tripartite joint air drill by mobilizing various kinds of combat bombers including the strategic bomber 'B-52H' in the sky over the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity," said the KCNA, citing a statement by the chief of the Policy Office of the Ministry of National Defence.

The military alliances between the United States and Japan and between the United States and the Republic of Korea "have completely changed into a nuclear-based triangular military alliance," and the tripartite military cooperation being promoted in all spheres heralds the fact that "the long-running instability and tension on the Korean Peninsula can lead to an unpredictable phase of military confrontation at any moment," the statement added.

It is the DPRK's sovereign right to take countermeasures against provocative military actions, such as the moves to strengthen the multilateral military alliance threatening the security of the region.