A spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea released the following press statement titled "The US’ reckless bluffing military demonstration is a futile act of increasing the security threat to its mainland only" on April 16:

On April 15, the US and the ROK staged a provocative joint air drill with B-1B strategic bomber involved under the pretext of the enhanced regular visibility of "extended deterrence".

The US fully showed its confrontational attitude and will against the DPRK through its repeated demonstrative military actions.

The recent military move of the US and the ROK is an open threat to the security of our state and a grave provocation that raises the military tension in the region to an extremely dangerous level.

The continuous appearance of B-1B serves as an occasion of highlighting once again the fact that the US and its vassal forces are the only ones that unilaterally escalate the military tension nowadays while inciting the hostile atmosphere of confrontation in the Korean peninsula.

Recently, the US has renewed its record in openly dispatching nuclear submarine, strategic bomber, aircraft carrier and other strategic assets to the Korean peninsula.

This fully shows that the deployment of the US strategic means on the Korean peninsula has been fixed as a routine military practice, not as part of emergency measures, and is a constant, not a variable, threatening the regional security environment.

The gravity of the deployment of such strategic assets is not simply limited to the increase in frequency, but it is the process of improving the skilfulness in tactics and procedures for attacking the DPRK, and completing preparations for going into real action at any time.

The DPRK Ministry of National Defence strongly warns that the US bluffing military action that poses a serious danger to the sovereignty of our state and the regional situation will inevitably bring serious negative consequences to the security situation of the US, too.

The DPRK will exercise the overwhelming deterrence and continue to make the US recognize that its unannounced deployment of strategic means is a reckless and unnecessary abuse of strength, and get the US realize by itself that the higher the level of provocation against the DPRK is, the greater the level of danger returning to the US will be.

The armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will never tolerate the slightest sign of threat of the hostile forces against its security sovereignty and will deter by dint of powerful force the US aggressive attempt to permanently fix the malignant instability element in the security environment of the region.

KCNA