SEOUL– A North Korean propaganda outlet on Tuesday warned South Korea against pushing ahead with its planned joint military drill with the United States, saying that war exercises and peace cannot go hand in hand.
Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, issued the warning as South Korea and the U.S. are expected to hold the joint military drill in August. Seoul’s defense ministry earlier said that the allies are discussing when and how to stage their annual summertime military exercise.
“The blame for the current instability on the Korean Peninsula should be squarely placed on warmongers among the South Korean military colluding with outside power and engaging reckless confrontational machinations,” the website said.
“War games and schemes to strengthen armed forces will never stand hand in hand with peace,” it added.
The website mentioned the joint military drill South Korea carried out with the U.S. in March and its recent move to introduce high-tech weaponry, saying that Seoul is totally bent on conducting war exercises.
Meari, another propaganda website, also slammed South Korea for being bent on strengthening its armed forces despite the global coronavirus pandemic.
“Ignoring the livelihoods of its people suffering from the fast spread of the vicious virus, (South Korea) has been pouring a huge amount of taxpayers’ money in arming its soldiers with high-tech weaponry,” it said.
North Korea has long denounced Seoul and Washington’s military drills as a rehearsal for an invasion of the North, calling on the U.S. to end its hostile policy. The allies say that the exercises are defensive in nature.
A unification ministry official reiterated that decisions on the military drills with the U.S. should be handled in a “wise” and “flexible” manner so as not to heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The official, however, declined to comment further when asked if Seoul should consider scaling down or postponing the upcoming military drills for the sake of dialogue with the North.
Source: Yonhap News Agency