DPRK denounces ROK, US joint drills

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Friday that joint naval drills by the United States, Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan have threatened peace and security in the region, the official news agency KCNA reported.

A spokesman for the National Peace Committee of Korea denounced the joint military exercises in a statement as an intentional act to provoke war, which has pushed the Korean Peninsula and the rest of Northeast Asia to the edge of armed conflict.

The ROK army's K1A1 tank participates in a live-firing exercise of ROK and US armed in Pocheon, June 19, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

"These war drumbeats are pushing the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of an all-out war and posing a serious threat to the peace and security in the region," the statement said.

To cover up their aggressive and provocative nature, the three countries claimed the drills are "annual defense exercises" targeting "provocation and threat" from the DPRK, it said, noting that it is "sheer sophism."

The people of the DPRK love peace, but national dignity and sovereignty matter more to them, the statement said, pledging to further bolster its country's armed forces.

The US, ROK and Japan on Thursday started the two-day military exercises, the first of their kind, near waters south of the Korean Peninsula.

On Friday, ROK and the US staged their largest-ever live-fire drill northeast of Seoul, aimed at checking solid military preparedness and war-fighting capabilities, ROK's Defense Ministry said.