North Korea condemns joint military exercises between South Korea, the United States and Japan... “The river-to-river principle will be applied.”

Comment by the Korean Central News Agency... Justifying the strengthening of nuclear forces by mentioning ‘patriotic training and Kinsword’

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Boram Yoon = On the 20th, North Korea protested against the ongoing joint military exercises between South Korea, the United States and Japan, calling them "malicious military confrontation maneuvers by hostile countries," and repeatedly asserted the legitimacy of strengthening its nuclear forces.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said this afternoon in an English commentary titled 'Military Muscle-Flexing Will Meet with Reaction Based on Power', saying, "In response to the show of force by hostile countries, the 'strong-to-river' principle based on strong power will be applied."

The news agency mentioned the 'defense training' that will be held from the 19th to the 30th and criticized, "(South Korea) did not hide the invasive and provocative nature of the training."

The Patriotic Exercise is an annual large-scale outdoor maneuver exercise led by the Korean military, in which some US forces stationed in Korea also participate. During this year's patriotic training period, two joint outdoor mobile exercises, which were not able to be conducted due to the early termination of the ROK-US joint exercise 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' (UFS) in August at the direction of US President Donald Trump, will be held in parallel.

He also mentioned the "Kinsword," a joint U.S.-Japan military exercise held from the 19th to the 29th, and claimed, "This clearly proves that South Korea and Japan are at the forefront of a 'proxy war' against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and other countries in the region under the active control of the United States to form an Asia-Pacific version of NATO."

Kinsword is an annual joint exercise involving the Japan Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Forces in Japan. Japanese media reported that this year's Kinsword training will expand to new areas such as space, cyber, and electromagnetic waves in addition to existing landing and amphibious operations and missile defense training.

The Korean Central News Agency emphasized, "The current situation, in which hostile forces are going crazy with military maneuvers to infringe on the security interests of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and undermine strategic stability in the region, clearly highlights the validity and legitimacy of the essential and self-defense efforts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to suppress this."

He argued, "To respond to threats that are escalating day by day, an even stronger deterrent is needed, and repeated provocations will eventually inevitably result in an immediate response, such as building stronger capabilities."

He then emphasized, “Amid the immutable reality that hostile countries’ malicious military confrontation maneuvers will never end or decrease, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s position to control and manage all threats to its security area is unwavering.”