The chief of the Information Office of the Ministry of National Defence of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Nov. 23 issued a press statement titled "It is constitutional duty of the DPRK to take self-defensive measures for defending its security environment", which said:

The military tension in the region has recently become more acute as the U.S. continuously flexes its military muscle against the DPRK on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity.

The U.S., which deployed the George Washington nuclear carrier strike group in the waters around the Korean peninsula, staged Freedom Edge, the multi-domain joint military drills, with Japan and the ROK from Nov. 13 to 15.

On Nov. 18, Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine Columbia, arrived at the Pusan operation base to incite the atmosphere of nuclear confrontation, and on Nov. 21, the strategic reconnaissance plane RC-135S flied above the East Sea of Korea, conducting undisguised air spying on the strategic depth of the DPRK.

The U.S. military provocations, being committed in the Korean peninsula where huge armed forces of two belligerent sides are on high alert and the possibility of constant military conflict lingers, constitute the source of plunging the regional situation into an irretrievable catastrophe.

We strongly warn the U.S. and its followers hostile towards the DPRK to immediately stop the hostile acts of further causing provocation and instability that can drive the military confrontation in the Korean peninsula and its vicinity into a real armed conflict.

The danger of the U.S. military provocations against the DPRK is that it will never end in muscle-flexing for frightening other or security instability limited to the region of the Korean peninsula.

The present grave political and military situation in which the U.S. military adventurism has gone beyond the red-line on a global scale foretells that the U.S. military moves targeting the DPRK can lead to a real war situation anytime.

It is the constitutional duty of the armed forces of the DPRK to take self-defensive measures to protect the security environment of the state and maintain the strategic stability and balance of strength in the region.

The KPA is closely following the military moves of the U.S. and its allies, opening up the possibility of all options in its combat readiness. If it is judged necessary, it will immediately take action to pre-contain the danger and achieve the military and strategic goal of the state.

Rodong Sinmun