North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un accused the leaders of the United States, Japan, and South Korea of being “gang bosses” and claimed trilateral naval exercises being conducted in waters off the Korean Peninsula have made the area unstable while increasing the risk of nuclear war.
The North Korean leader on Tuesday also called on his military to be on guard and ready for combat against what Kim described as a plot to invade his country. He added that his navy would soon be equipped with nuclear weapons in order to support its nuclear war “deterrence” strategy.
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The United States, South Korea, and Japan agreed earlier this month at a historic summit at Camp David to deepen military and economic cooperation to counter nuclear threats from Pyongyang and China’s growing power in the region.
Kim has interpreted the naval exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion, despite denials from Washington, D.C.
“Owing to the reckless confrontational moves of the U.S. and other hostile forces, the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been reduced into the world’s biggest war hardware concentration spot, the most unstable waters with the danger of a nuclear war,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying.
Tuesday’s U.S.-South Korean-Japanese drills in international waters off South Korea’s Jeju Island involved naval destroyers from all three countries. The exercises were focused on detecting, tracking, and sharing data on incoming North Korean missiles, South Korea’s navy said in a statement.
Japan’s defense ministry said the military exercises “will strongly facilitate trilateral cooperation and demonstrate the commitment of Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea to protect a free and open international order based on the rule of law.”
North Korea typically responds to the annual U.S-South Korea drills with its own missile tests. This year’s exercises, conducted by all three countries, began on Aug. 21 and are expected to last 11 days.
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In less than two years, North Korea has carried out more than 100 weapons tests, many of which involved nuclear-capable missiles that could strike South Korea, Japan, and the United States.
In March, Kim led drills “simulating a nuclear counterattack” in response to military drills carried out by the U.S. and South Korea. The two-day exercise included the firing of a ballistic missile carrying a mock nuclear warhead.
