North Korea slams joint US-South drills as ‘open threat’
The nuclear-armed North Korea has long voiced outrage at the drills, considering them dress rehearsals for an invasion.
North Korean state media has criticized the joint US-South Korea military drills as an "immediate and open threat" to Pyongyang and regional security, according to a commentary by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The North has not mentioned US President Donald Trump's order to reduce the scale of the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which were set to begin a day earlier than planned.
Trump had criticized the drills as "inappropriate and hostile" while praising North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and criticizing South Korea for not supporting his stance against Iran. The nuclear-armed North has long considered the drills as rehearsals for an invasion. The commentary titled "We Will Exercise Our Right to Self-Defence for Neutralising Military Threat from Hostile Forces through More Transparent Action" did not address Trump's order or his desire to resume talks with Kim.
The US maintains around 28,500 troops in South Korea to support its defense in the region, a remnant of the 1950-53 Korean War that concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
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