Assistance by US plus allies a step towards ‘Asian NATO’, North Korea media says

SEOUL: Joint drills by the United States, South Korea and The japanese have a “sinister aim” toward North Korea and are part of an unhealthy prelude to the creation of an “Asian version of NATO” , Northern Korean state information agency KCNA stated on Wednesday (Jun 29).

The reports upon KCNA came hours before leaders of South Korea plus Japan are due to attend NATO’s annual summit as observers for the first time. They will also meet with US President Joe Biden to talk about North Korea, the first such trilateral summit since 2017.

The three countries may also conduct a mixed missile detection and tracking exercise close to Hawaii in Aug, called Pacific Monster.

“The ALL OF US is getting hell-bent for the military cooperation using its stooges in disregard of the primary protection demand and problem by Asia-pacific nations, ” KCNA mentioned.

In a similar statement over the weekend, the North’s foreign ministry said the exercises showed the hypocrisy of US offers of diplomatic engagement and dialogue without preconditions.

North Korea has conducted a list number of missile exams this year, including of its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, and you will find concerns it could be getting ready to test a nuclear weapon for the first time given that 2017.

South Korea and Japan are both US allies, but their relationship with one another has been strained by historical tensions over Japan’s occupation of Korea from 1910-1945.

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