The external policy office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea released the following press statement under the title "We will continue to make important efforts to deter the acts of disturbing peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the rest of the world" on June 30 :

The US, Japan and ROK staged Freedom Edge, the first tripartite multi-domain joint military exercises in the waters near the DPRK from June 27 to 29.

In the past they staged many large and small joint military drills under various pretexts, but there had been no such a large-scale joint military drill dubbed with a special name.

We strongly denounce the US, Japan and ROK for their repeated reckless and provocative military muscle-flexing against the DPRK and other independent states in the region and once again seriously warn of the fatal consequences to be entailed by them.

Now the international community unanimously comments that lurking behind the recent drill is the strategic design of the US to escalate regional military tensions, exert pressure upon the Far East of Russia and lay siege to China.

The regular US-Japan-ROK tripartite joint military exercises clearly show that the US strategy for world domination to encircle and contain independent and sovereign states and secure its military hegemony has already crossed the red line and is bringing about a very negative change in the world security environment and geopolitical mechanical structure.

Freedom Edge, typical expression of the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc

The danger of the first tripartite multi-domain joint military exercises between the US, Japan and the ROK lies not only in the fact that the armed forces of the three countries conducted drills in various operational spheres including the sea and air.

The gravity and danger of the situation lie in the fact that Freedom Edge is a product of the organization, systematization and actualization of the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc.

The US is now claiming that the US-Japan-ROK relations are just cooperative ones for strengthening regional stability and security and do not mean NATO of Asian version, but it is nothing but rhetoric to evade international criticism of the formation of an aggressive bloc.

The document, cooked up at the US-Japan-ROK tripartite summit in August last year, specifies the immediate tripartite cooperation to cope with any threat faced by one of the three countries.

This is, in essence, reminiscent of NATO's principle of collective defence that it mobilizes its defence capabilities if a member country is attacked, regarding it as an attack on all.

Since the Camp David confab, the US, Japan and the ROK have operated a real-time missile warning data sharing system under the pretext of coping with "missile threat" from someone to realize the integration in the field of military intelligence. They are also stepping up the integration of the military forces of the three countries by frequently staging joint military drills involving US strategic assets.

As NATO stages annual joint military drills in all spheres including land, sea, air and cyberspace, the US, Japan and the ROK decided to regularly stage tripartite multi-domain joint military drills. This means that the US-Japan-ROK relations have taken on the full-fledged appearance of Asian-version NATO.

In the final analysis, Freedom Edge served as an occasion for proving that the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc, the US had been seeking to establish for decades, has become the present perfect, not the continuous nor the future.

True intention in revitalization of exclusive military bloc

An official concerned of the US Department of State recently asserted that Japan and the ROK are very good partners in coping with the threat from Russia.

Lurking behind this is the US strategic scenario to use the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc as a three-horse carriage for carrying out its strategy for hegemony in not only Northeast Asia but also the rest of the world.

As already known, the ROK is a "military colony" which left OPECON (wartime operation control) in the hands of the US and Japan is the largest overseas military base of the US, where more than 54 000 US troops are deployed.

This hints that the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc is a war and aggression mechanism capable of standing in military confrontation against other countries at any time under the instruction and command of the US, unlike AUKUS, the security technology alliance of the US, Britain and Australia or the tripartite security cooperation mechanism between the US, Japan and the Philippines.

It is by no means fortuitous that the US persistently tried to make the relations between NATO, the war machinery in Europe, and Japan and the ROK closely linked with each other.

The US, which already pushed forward with the entry of Japan and the ROK into NATO 18 years ago, has got more frantic in realizing the organic bond between NATO and Japan and the ROK since it turned its strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan and the ROK, which established partnerships with NATO and built channels of regular dialogue at the instigation of the US, are now taking part in annual NATO summit meetings and even in the NATO-led military exercises, further expanding their cooperation with NATO.

After the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis, Japan has been hell-bent on the moves to put pressure on Russia and the ROK has openly sought to provide the Nazi regime of Zelenskiy with lethal equipment. Such facts show that the close ties between NATO and the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military bloc have reached a dangerous level.

The reality goes to prove that the "inseparable relations" between the security of Europe and the one of the Asia-Pacific region, touted by the US and its vassal forces, are nothing but an excuse for realizing the political collusion and military integration between the NATO member states and pro-US states in the Asia-Pacific region and encircling independent sovereign states.

To foil the alliance strategy of the US is urgently needed to ensure international peace and stability

The Biden administration, in its "Indo-Pacific Strategy Report" and the "National Security Strategy Report", called on its allies in Asia and Europe to unite with each other to counter their strategic rivals.

Recently, it has asserted that its alliance strategy is making the switch from a "hub-and-spoke one" of forming various bilateral alliances to a "lattice-like one" of forming several multilateral alliances cooperating with each other. It also claimed that the era of "alliance protection" is over and the era of "alliance action" has arrived.

This proves that the primary goal of the US strategy for world domination is to form a global siege network to contain independent sovereign states which are opposed to its high-handed and arbitrary practices.

Such confrontational attempt of the US is the root cause of fomenting political instability and military confrontation and triggering off bloody wars and touch-and-go security crises in different parts of the world.

The prevailing situation requires the independent sovereign states to steadily bolster up their self-defensive power to defend national security and, at the same time, further strengthen mutual cooperation and concerted action so as to establish a structure of forces capable of effectively deterring the hostile forces' collective military intervention.

The US and its vassal forces' expansion of the aggressive bloc and escalating military confrontation that wreck peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region will be surely deterred by the powerful and coordinated counteraction of independent sovereign states.

We will never overlook the moves of the US and its followers to strengthen the military bloc, which openly destroys the security environment on the Korean peninsula and gravely threatens global peace and stability, but firmly defend our national sovereignty, security and interests and peace in the region through offensive and overwhelming countermeasures.

KCNA