North Korea condemns US military drills, warns potential escalation could trigger real war

Seoul, Nov 24 North Korea strongly condemned the US for conducting joint military drills and deploying military assets to the Korean Peninsula, warning that such actions could escalate into an actual war at any time.

The chief of the Information Office of the Ministry of National Defence issued a statement, denouncing the trilateral Freedom Shield exercises, which included South Korea and Japan, as well as the recent arrival of a US nuclear-powered submarine at a major naval base in South Korea, Yonhap reported, quoting Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"We strongly warn the US and its followers hostile towards the DPRK to immediately stop the hostile acts of further causing provocation and instability that can drive the military confrontation in the Korean peninsula and its vicinity into a real armed conflict," according to the English-language statement carried by the KCNA on Saturday

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

South Korea, the US and Japan wrapped up their three-day trilateral Freedom Edge exercise in international waters south of South Korea's southern island of Jeju on November 15. On Monday, the 6,000-ton USS Columbia entered South Korea's naval base in Busan.

The statement further said, "US military moves targeting the DPRK can lead to a real war situation anytime."

The chief also said it is the constitutional duty of North Korea to take self-defensive measures to protect the security environment of the state and maintain the strategic stability and balance of strength in the region.