Pak Jong Chon, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, on September 13 issued the following press statement titled “The DPRK will continue to exercise its sovereign rights in a responsible manner to make the enemy states realize that their war drills are a meaningless waste of strength”:

I received a report from the General Reconnaissance Information Bureau that the nuclear operation drill Iron Mace and the multi-domain joint military exercises Freedom Edge will be staged simultaneously on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity in the near future with the participation of the US and its allies.

Iron Mace, aimed to improve the joint operation of the nuclear forces of the US and the conventional forces of the ROK according to the “Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula” cooked up by the US and the ROK, is to all intents and purposes an undisguised nuclear war rehearsal aimed at using nuclear weapons against the DPRK.

And the multi-domain joint military exercises Freedom Edge to be staged by the US, Japan and the ROK are the most comprehensive and offensive war drill for aggression in terms of scale, content and nature as it is the continuation of the large-scale joint military drill Ulji Freedom Shield staged in August.

The reckless military moves of the US, Japan and the ROK on the Korean peninsula, the world’s hottest spot, pose a grave challenge to the security interests of our state and a major danger of undermining regional stability and escalating military tension.

The US and its allies are gradually undermining the security environment of the Korean peninsula through the expansion of exclusive military blocs and consecutive war drills. Their worrisome movements are calling for reinforcement of war deterrent and maintenance of thoroughgoing war posture.

The prevailing situation proves that the most appropriate option of the DPRK to ensure its security and defend the stability of the region is to constantly reinforce the strategic power to frustrate the hostile forces’ attempt at aggression and remove the military danger.

The enemy states’ attempt to cover up the aggressive nature of the war drills with a sheer sophism that their war drills are “annual” and “defensive” ones can never work on anyone and we have no reason for overlooking the US-Japan-ROK military adventure which adds an additional serious variable to the dangerous regional situation.

The US and its followers should not try the patience of the DPRK but give up dangerous moves to further aggravate the tension and security environment of the region.

I stress that if the hostile forces persist in their muscle-flexing, the DPRK will respond to them with counteraction in a clearer and more intensified way.

The DPRK’s armed forces assume the important mission to deter war and defend its sovereignty.

The DPRK will make a very responsible choice under the present situation where all unjustifiable actions of the enemy states against it are being systematically escalated.

KCNA