North Korea Condemns S. Korea-U.S. 'Freedom Flag': 'Will Deter Threats with Force'

North Korea condemned the South Korea-U.S. combined air exercise Freedom Flag, which began on the 26th, calling it “a large-scale combined air exercise of a provocative nature targeting our country,” and threatened to “thoroughly deter threats with force.”

An F-16 fighter jet flies over Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on the 26th, as the South Korean and U.S. air forces launch Freedom Flag, a large-scale air exercise aimed at improving combined operational capabilities and survivability. Yonhap News.

A spokesperson for North Korea’s Ministry of National Defence claimed in a statement released through the Korean Central News Agency on the 30th that “the fact that the United States and South Korea deployed not only their air forces but also fighter jets from their armies, navies and Marine Corps, along with early-warning aircraft, aerial refueling tankers and attack drones, clearly reveals the gap between the so-called ‘defensive nature’ of the exercises they insist upon and their actual military objectives.”

The spokesperson also claimed that “the fact that the U.S. Marine Corps’ III Marine Expeditionary Force, a vanguard of overseas aggression, held a multidomain reconnaissance exercise in South Korea for the first time, after conducting it in Hawaii, and openly declared that its main purpose was to support South Korea’s preemptive strike system against North Korea, ‘Kill Chain,’ clearly shows the gravity of the military intentions pursued by hostile countries.”

The Ministry of National Defence also blamed South Korea for escalating tensions in the border region. It claimed that “the military movements of hostile countries, intensifying at our doorstep, are increasing the risk of a sudden armed clash with potentially catastrophic consequences.”

Earlier, on the 23rd, following a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the western front, South Korea’s military proposed talks between the two Koreas’ military authorities. The aim was to mutually confirm the precise location of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and discuss restoring military communication lines and ways to prevent accidental clashes in the border region. North Korea, however, did not respond to the proposal and instead appeared to claim that military movements by South Korea and the United States were increasing the risk of an armed clash.

North Korea also suggested the possibility of further provocations, saying that military actions by South Korea and the United States were threatening its national security. The Ministry of National Defence said, “The grave reality of an inescapable threat to the country’s security environment demands the practical deployment of stronger countermeasures to suppress and eliminate all kinds of risk factors.”

It went on to threaten, “Any hostile act that approaches the country’s security sphere will become a legitimate target for the exercise of sovereignty by the armed forces of the Republic,” adding, “Our armed forces will thoroughly deter threats with force and act only in ways that hostile countries can understand.” It also claimed that “there is no veto over the legitimate exercise of the right to self-defense.”

Freedom Flag is a large-scale combined air exercise conducted twice a year by the South Korean and U.S. air forces to strengthen their combined operational capabilities and interoperability. This year’s second-half exercise will run through November 6.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.