North Korea has long condemned joint drills between the United States and South Korea as a rehearsal for invasion.SEOUL - North Korea criticised the trilateral "Freedom Edge" military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the United States held this month, state media said on June 30, saying such drills show the relationship among three countries has developed into "the Asian version of Nato".
The "Freedom Edge" exercise was devised at the three-way summit at Camp David last year to strengthen military co-operation amid tensions on the Korean peninsula stemming from North Korea's weapons testing. The ministry also said Washington was continuing its effort to link up South Korea and Japan to Nato, adding South Korea's attempts to supply weapons to Ukraine is one example of that effort.
South Korea and the United States have accused the North of supplying weapons to Russia that are being used in the Ukraine war. Both Russia and North Korea deny any such transactions.On June 29, North Korea's ruling party held a key meeting on the second day, presided by Kim, who addressed "deviations" hampering economic development and laid out the focus for the second half of the year, state media said.