N. Korea warns South, U.S. against resumption of joint military drill

SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) — North Korea warned Tuesday that a resumption of South Korea and the United States’ annual joint military exercises will throw the Korean Peninsula back into a state of confrontation.

“If the U.S. and South Korea resume the large-scale joint military exercises, the situation on the Korean peninsula will again be pushed back to the grim phase of catastrophe and the provokers will have to bear all responsibilities,” the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

“Even before the start of the Winter Olympics, there are increasing concerns at home and abroad about the situation on the Korean Peninsula after the Olympics,” the North said, referring to the U.S. “touting the resumption of the joint military exercises with South Korea as soon as the Olympics ends.”

The allies are reportedly planning to conduct their annual joint exercises — Key Resolve and Foal Eagle — in April after the springtime drills were delayed until after the February-March Olympics and Paralympics.

“This sinister military act aimed to chill the hard-won atmosphere for the improvement of the North-South ties and reverse the trend of development is an outright challenge to the sincere efforts made by the DPRK to defuse the tension on the Korean Peninsula and create a peaceful environment,” the news outlet claimed. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

“The situation clearly proves that the U.S. is a harasser of the peace on the Korean Peninsula, a chief culprit escalating tensions and a main stumbling block standing in the way of Korea’s reunification,” it also argued, adding that, “The U.S. and the South Korean military warmongers will have to ponder over the consequences to be brought about by their nuclear war saber-rattling.”

pbr@yna.co.kr