North Korea Warns of ‘Unprecedented’ Response to US–South Korea Joint Drills

People watch a TV showing an image of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea on July 28, 2022. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

North Korea has warned of “unprecedented and strong counteractions” if the United States and South Korea proceed with their planned joint drills, according to the North Korean official mouthpiece on Thursday.

The North’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused the United States and South Korea of trying to gain “a long-term military edge” on the Korean Peninsula, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

“In case the U.S. and South Korea carry into practice their already-announced plan for military drills which the DPRK, with just apprehension and reason, regards as preparations for an aggression war, they will face unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions.”

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The spokesperson said that North Korea had refrained from “any special military action” but that the U.S.–South Korea military demonstrations “encroach upon the security interest of the DPRK.”

Citing the expansion of U.S.–South Korea joint drills and the U.S. pledge to deploy more military assets to defend South Korea, the spokesperson warned that the Korean Peninsula will be “plunged into the grave vortex of escalating tension.”

“If it is the U.S. option to show its muscle and counter everything with muscle, the same is true of the DPRK’s option,” the official said.

South Korea and the United States will hold their annual Freedom Shield joint drills next month to bolster the joint capabilities of their armed forces to deter North Korea’s nuclear threats, KBS World reported.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced Thursday that its military would also hold a joint tabletop exercise with the U.S. forces at the Pentagon next week.

South Korea Calls the North its ‘Enemy’

The South Korean Ministry of Defense released its biennial policy document on the same day, which refers to North Korea “our enemy” for the first time after six years of futile diplomatic efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

“As the North defined us as an undoubted enemy at the plenary meeting of the ruling party’s Central Committee in December 2022, and continues to pose a military threat without renouncing its nuclear program, the North Korean regime and military—the executor of that threat—are our enemy,” the document reads.

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is launched in this undated photo released on Nov. 19, 2022, by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). (KCNA via Reuters)

South Korea’s use of the term “enemy” to describe North Korea has varied over the past decades. It first referred to North Korea as an enemy in 1995 after North Korea threatened to turn South Korea into a “sea of fire.”

In 2004, South Korea described North Korea as “a direct military threat.” But it eventually revived the term enemy in 2010 after 50 South Koreans were killed in attacks allegedly orchestrated by the North Korean regime.

The enemy term was later omitted in 2018 and 2020 by the liberal administration of former president Moon Jae-in, who pursued inter-Korean reconciliation.

The latest change in the defense paper reflects President Yoon Suk-yeol’s hardline stance on North Korea. The paper also referred to the North Korean leader by his name, Kim Jong Un, as opposed to Moon’s practice of referring to Kim as the State Affairs Commission chairman.

In the paper, South Korea estimates that North Korea has 70 kilograms of plutonium, up from the previous report’s estimate of 50 kilograms, and a “considerable” amount of highly enriched uranium—both of which are key materials used to build nuclear weapons.

‘Nuke For Nuke’ Confrontation

North Korea launched more than 70 missiles last year, including potentially nuclear-capable weapons of various ranges targeting South Korea and the continental United States, prompting the two nations to step up joint military drills to counter North Korean threats.

North Korea had condemned the drills as “rehearsals for an invasion” and vowed to retaliate against any military action according to its principle of “nuke for nuke and an all-out confrontation for an all-out confrontation.”

The United States has been urging for a return for a dialogue, a call North Korea has ignored due to what it says are the U.S. and its allies’ hostile policies.

Yoon previously offered North Korea economic benefits in exchange for denuclearization steps but the offer was rejected. Kim said there will be no denuclearization talks, negotiations, or “bargaining chips” in that process.