North Korea has condemned the joint exercises held last week by the U.S., Japanese, and South Korean navies, the first trilateral drills of the second Trump administration.
State media warned that any further provocations would be met with an "overwhelming" response from Pyongyang.
Why It Matters
South Korea and Japan are both treaty allies of the United States and fall under its extended deterrence policy, which includes the so-called "nuclear umbrella." The U.S. also maintains tens of thousands of troops in each country—military deployments that North Korea routinely denounces as provocative.
Since late 2023, the three nations have deepened their security cooperation in response to continued threats from North Korea's nuclear-armed Kim Jong Un regime and China's moves to assert regional dominance and threaten Beijing-claimed, self-ruled Taiwan.
Newsweek reached out to the North Korean embassy in Beijing, China, by email with a request for comment.
What To Know
The tripartite drills, held from March 17 to 20 near South Korea's Jeju Island, focused on the Carl Vinson aircraft-carrier strike group. They aimed to enhance allied coordination, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement released Thursday.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday published a commentary condemning the exercises.
"The enemy states did not take the trouble to conceal the fact that the drill was aimed to check the DPRK's [Democratic People's Republic of Korea's] nuclear and missile capabilities, and its sea defense capability in particular, and deprive it of its maritime sovereignty," the KCNA statement said, using North Korea's formal name.
KCNA accused the "U.S. and other hostile forces" of ramping up efforts to "restrain" North Korea and "dominate the whole Asia-Pacific region" to unprecedented levels.
"The more desperately the U.S. resorts to confrontation with the DPRK, the more the DPRK will accelerate and redouble its efforts and actions to defend its national security and the regional peace," the statement continued. "Any provocation and threat will face the overwhelming and decisive counteraction."
KCNA also echoed remarks from North Korea's Foreign Ministry-affiliated Institute for Disarmament and Peace, which on Monday labeled the recently concluded U.S.-South Korea Freedom Shield exercises a "war rehearsal."
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a March 20 statement: "Trilateral naval exercises are conducted in a manner that is consistent with international law and with due regard to the safety of navigation and the rights and interests of other states."
What Happens Next
U.S. President Donald Trump, who met with Kim Jong Un three times during his first term in a failed attempt to persuade the North Korean leader to take steps toward denuclearization, has indicated that he is open to reengaging with him.
On Tuesday, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said North Korea may be ready to conduct another nuclear test "on short notice," which would be its seventh since the start of testing in 2006.
"North Korea is probably prepared to conduct another nuclear test on short notice and continues to flight-test ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles] to demonstrate their increasing capabilities as leverage in future negotiations," Gabbard told lawmakers during a testimony on the annual threat assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies.
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About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more