N. Korea slams S. Korea for joint military drill, warns of consequences
South Korea and the U.S. were towrap up their weekslong joint exercise later in the day. Seoul has said that itis part of its preparations to regain wartime operational control of its troopsfrom Washington, but Pyongyang has called it a rehearsal for invasion.
«The joint command postexercise that the warmongers in South Korea are conducting together with theU.S. is an outright hostile act of invading us and a military provocation thatcannot be tolerated,» the Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary.
The paper said that the exerciseincluded a «stabilization maneuver» in recaptured areas, which itclaims to be evidence that the drill is aimed at «invading and crushingour republic to death.»
The paper also blamed South Koreafor raising tensions in the region by introducing high-tech military equipmentand going ahead with the joint military drill despite repeated warnings fromNorth Korea, saying the South will pay a price for the «stupid» acts.
North Korea has intensified itscriticism of South Korea for carrying out the joint military exercise whiletalking about peace and cross-border cooperation.
The North has also carried out aseries of weapons tests in recent weeks in apparent protest of the ongoingjoint military exercise by South Korea and the U.S.
Earlier last week, the North warnedthat inter-Korean dialogue won't resume unless the South offers a«plausible excuse» for its combined military exercise with the U.S.
A spokesperson of the North'scommittee handling inter-Korean affairs issued a statement Friday, sayingPyongyang has no intention to talk with South Korea again and calling it a«senseless» hope to expect talks to resume when Seoul's jointmilitary exercise with Washington is over.