North Korea criticizes US-South Korea-Japan for moving towards 'Asian NATO' alliance

North Korea's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the discussion regarding the trilateral military exercise, which South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol held with his US and Japanese counterparts - Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida - on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Spain.

A North Korean military parade. Illustrative photo

"The recent NATO Summit clearly demonstrated that the United States is pursuing a plan to simultaneously contain Russia and China by militarizing Europe and establishing a NATO-like military alliance in the Asia-Pacific region. Besides, maintaining the trilateral military alliance of the United States, Japan and South Korea is also an important way to realize the plan," KCNA quoted a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry as saying.

“In fact, the real purpose of the US spreading rumors about the 'threat from North Korea' is to create an excuse to gain military superiority in the Asia-Pacific region,” the spokesman added.

According to KCNA, due to "reckless military moves by the United States and its vassal forces", world peace and security have been put in "the most critical state since the end of the Cold War", when a nuclear war could break out simultaneously in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The spokesman added that North Korea will firmly defend its sovereignty and interests and fulfill its “duty and responsibility” to ensure peace and security in the region. “The current situation requires an even more urgent need to build up the country’s defense system to proactively cope with the rapidly worsening security environment.”

The leaders of the United States, South Korea and Japan met on the sidelines of the NATO summit last week, and agreed to explore further measures to bolster "extended deterrence" against North Korea.