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North Korea warns of strong response to US-South Korea military drills

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt=" This picture taken on Oct. 17, 2022 released by North Korea" s="" official="" Korean="" Central="" News="" Agency="" on="" Oct.="" shows="" North="" leader="" Kim="" Jong="" Un="" delivering="" a="" speech="" at="" the="" Academy="" of="" Party="" Korea="" in="" Pyongyang.="" STR="" KCNA="" via="" KNS="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/10/23/10232022-north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-afp.jpg"/><figcaption>This picture taken on Oct. 17, 2022 released by North Korea&#x27;s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Oct. 18 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering a speech at the Central Academy of the Workers&#x27; Party of Korea in Pyongyang. <em>STR/KCNA via KNS/AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p><br/>MANILA — North Korea on Friday threatened an &quot;unprecedentedly&quot; strong response to upcoming US-South Korea joint military drills, describing them as preparations for war.</p><p>The warning came ahead of a tabletop exercise next week in Washington, in which the two allies will discuss responses to the use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang.</p><p>North Korea has long condemned joint US-South Korea military drills, calling them rehearsals for an invasion.</p><p>It regards the exercises planned for this year &quot;with just apprehension and reason... as preparations for an aggression war&quot;, a spokesperson for the North Korean foreign ministry said in a statement released by state media.</p><p>If Washington and Seoul go ahead with the drills, &quot;they will face unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions&quot;, the statement added.</p><p>Under its hawkish President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea has beefed up military drills with the United States, which had been scaled back during the Covid pandemic.</p><p>They were also paused for a bout of ill-fated diplomacy with Pyongyang under his predecessor.</p><p>Yoon&#x27;s government is eager to convince the increasingly nervous South Korean public of Washington&#x27;s commitment to deter Pyongyang, which last year declared itself an &quot;irreversible&quot; nuclear power and conducted a record number of weapons tests.</p><p>The exercise next week will focus on &quot;joint planning, joint management and joint response with Washington&#x27;s nuclear assets&quot; in case of a nuclear attack by Pyongyang, a South Korean defense ministry official told AFP on Friday.</p><p>Pyongyang&#x27;s aggressive statement reflects the significance of this drill, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.</p><p>The exercise will be an important criterion for the extent to which the US nuclear arsenal will be involved in deterring North Korea, Yang told AFP.</p><p>Pyongyang has repeatedly said it is not interested in further talks, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently called for an &quot;exponential&quot; increase in his country&#x27;s nuclear arsenal.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/31/23/us-skorea-to-hold-tabletop-exercises-on-nuclear-threats">US, S.Korea to hold &#x27;tabletop&#x27; exercises on nuclear threats</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/17/23/us-invests-millions-to-expose-regime-to-north-koreans">US to invest millions to expose Kim Jong Un regime to North Koreans</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/18/22/fire-and-fury-north-koreas-banned-weapons-programs">Fire and fury: North Korea&#x27;s banned weapons programs</a></li></ul><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2470931" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><br/> </div>

North Korea threatened an 'unprecedentedly' strong response to upcoming US-South Korea joint military drills, describing them as war preparations.