Cooperation by US and allies a step towards ‘Asian NATO,’ N.Korea media says

Joint drills by the United States, South Korea and Japan have a “sinister aim” towards North Korea and are a part of a harmful prelude to the creation of an “Asian version of NATO”, North Korean state information company KCNA stated on Wednesday.

The stories on KCNA got here hours earlier than leaders of South Korea and Japan are as a result of attend NATO’s annual summit as observers for the primary time. They can even meet with US President Joe Biden to debate North Korea, the primary such trilateral summit since 2017.

The three nations can even conduct a mixed missile detection and monitoring train close to Hawaii in August, referred to as Pacific Dragon.

“The US is getting hell-bent on the military cooperation with its stooges in disregard of the primary security demand and concern by Asia-pacific countries,” KCNA stated.

In an analogous assertion over the weekend, the North’s overseas ministry stated the drills confirmed the hypocrisy of US affords of diplomatic engagement and dialogue with out preconditions.

North Korea has performed a report variety of missile assessments this yr, together with of its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, and there are considerations it might be making ready to check a nuclear weapon for the primary time since 2017.

South Korea and Japan are each US allies, however their relationship with one another has been strained by historic tensions over Japan’s occupation of Korea from 1910-1945.

Washington has pushed Seoul and Tokyo to cooperate extra within the face of threats from North Korea, in addition to to counter the rising affect of China.

“The scheme for formation of the US-Japan-South Korea military alliance, motivated by Japan’s and South Korea’s kowtowing to the US, is evidently a dangerous prelude to the creation of ‘Asian version of NATO’,” KCNA stated, accusing Washington of fomenting a brand new Cold War.

KCNA carried a separate commentary by Kim Hyo-myung, a researcher at North Korea’s International Society for Political Research, who stated NATO was liable for the battle in Ukraine, and that there are “ominous signs that sooner or later the black waves in the North Atlantic will break the calm in the Pacific.”

“NATO is nothing more than a servant of the realization of the UShegemony strategy and a tool of local aggression,” Kim wrote.