The DPRK Foreign Ministry has promised an unprecedentedly strong and sustained response to the US and South Korean plan to expand military exercises if they put it into action.
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Earlier, as a result of talks between South Korean and US defense ministers in January, they agreed to increase the pace and scope of joint military exercises and intelligence sharing, as well as to hold trilateral talks on security cooperation with Japan.
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“The United States and South Korea are planning more than 20 joint military exercises this year and are about to hold the largest field training in history, which portends that the Korean Peninsula and the situation in the region will once again be plunged into a maelstrom of intense tension,” the statement of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK said.
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In March, for the first time since 2018, a full-scale joint exercise of South Korea and the United States, the Freedom Shield exercise, which will include field maneuvers, combat simulations and war games, is to take place.
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“If the US and South Korea carry out their exercise plan, which we consider to be preparations for war and invasion on legitimate grounds and express concern, they will face a strong and prolonged unprecedented response that has not been seen before,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman promised.
