N. Korea warns S. Korea, US to refrain from joint military exercises

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump meeting for their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 28.

Statement threatens abandoning denuclearization talks and returning to “the starting point”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump meeting for their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 28.

On Nov. 13, North Korea warned that joint South Korea-US military exercises could aggravate the political situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the surrounding region, saying it would adopt a “new way” if the US does not refrain from “reckless act[s].” The message appeared as a way of applying heavy pressure to halt the exercises ahead of the South Korea-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) scheduled to take place in Seoul on Nov. 15.

In a Nov. 13 statement attributed to a “spokesman,” the North Korean State Affairs Commission said, “We explicitly defined the joint military drill being planned by the US and South Korea as a main factor of screwing up tensions of the Korean peninsula and the region out of control.”

“The US had better behave itself with prudence at a sensitive time when the situation on the Korean Peninsula could go back to the starting point,” the statement warned.

The statement was the first to date to be issued in the name of a spokesperson for the State Affairs Commission, a top-level policy guidance institution formed by North Korea in 2016 after Kim Jong-un came to power. In format, it was equivalent to a statement from a spokesperson for South Korea’s Blue House, representing a higher level than the statements from a Foreign Ministry spokesperson or official, which were typically used in the past for messages to the US. With the statement effectively expressing Kim’s views on the current situation, analysts saw it as stressing how seriously Pyongyang is viewing the latest South Korea-US exercises.

Statement reiterates year-end deadline and “new way”

In the statement, the 19-1 Dong Maeng joint exercises conducted in March and the initial operational capability (IOC) check for wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer performed in August were described as “acts of perfidy of reciprocating the good faith with evil [that] have already put the DPRK-US relations on the verge of a breakdown.”

“Still [the US] is mulling about combined aerial drills targeting the DPRK, the dialogue partner, under such situation only to further aggravate the situation. Our official stand is that we can no longer remain an onlooker to such a reckless act of the US,” the statement continued.

“The US will have to meditate on what influence the ‘new way’ we can be compelled to take will have on the ‘future of the US,’” it stressed.

“It will face greater threat and be forced to admit its failure, being put into trouble before long if it doesn't do anything to change the trend of the present situation,” it warned.

The statement also underscored the year-end deadline set by Pyongyang with Washington, calling on the US to “ponder over what it can do during the short last hours left.”

By Park Min-hee, staff reporter

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