North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the United States and South Korea, denouncing their upcoming military drills as a war rehearsal that it claimed would be more provocative than last year's exercises. The warning is typical of the harsh rhetoric North Korea often deploys ahead of major U.S.-South Korean military exercises and suggests the country could conduct more missile tests in the coming days.
Experts suggest North Korea has frequently used its rivals' drills as a pretext to ramp up its testing activities to expand its weapons arsenals and bolster public support for leader Kim Jong Un. The U.S. and South Korean militaries are scheduled to begin their major summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises on Monday. The allies have described the 11-day exercises as similar in scope to past years, intended to strengthen their readiness against North Korean threats and reiterated that they are defensive in nature.
In a statement carried by North Korean state media, the country's Foreign Ministry called the U.S.-South Korean training "a rehearsal for an aggressive war" that is triggering a new level of instability in the region. The statement asserted, "It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent." North Korea "will more clearly express its stance on the enemies to cope with any threats and challenges through the responsible and decisive exercise of the right to legitimate self-defense."
North Korea also stated the drills would be of a "more serious provocative nature and dangerousness than last year," though the U.S. and South Korea have not confirmed this claim. A U.S. military statement indicated that U.S. and South Korean forces will practice joint operations in complex scenarios. These will include a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and maneuver, a wet gap crossing, and the distribution of prepositioned military equipment.
In the past week, North Korea's neighbors detected two ballistic missile launches off the North's east coast. While North Korea has not commented on these launches, outside experts assess they were likely intended to protest the U.S.-South Korean drills or to upgrade the country's weapons systems.
Since diplomatic talks with former U.S. President Donald Trump broke down in 2019, Kim Jong Un has focused on bolstering his nuclear arsenal and has ignored offers from the U.S. and South Korea to resume diplomacy. Experts believe Kim ultimately aims to leverage his advancing nuclear program to gain significant concessions from the U.S., such as extensive sanctions relief. In recent years, North Korea has also expanded cooperation with Russia, supplying troops and ammunition for its war in Ukraine in exchange for economic and military assistance, and has sought to deepen ties with China, its largest trading partner.