Kim Jong Un slams South Korea-US drills dur

 

While inspecting his most sophisticated vessel being equipped with nuclear-capable equipment, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday denounced South Korean-U.S. military exercises and promised a swift expansion of his nuclear forces to deter adversaries, according to official media.

As the U.S. and South Korean forces began its yearly, extensive summertime drill to increase readiness against escalating North Korean threats, Kim paid a visit to the western port of Nampo on Monday. 21,000 troops, including 18,000 South Koreans, will be mobilized for the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, which the allies characterize as defensive, for field training and computer-simulated command post operations.

Kim has frequently utilized the joint exercises of the allies to defend his own military demonstrations and testing actions intended to advance his nuclear weapons program, and North Korea has long condemned them as invasion preparations.

Kim said that the allies' combined military exercises demonstrate animosity and their purported "will to ignite a war" while examining the warship Choe Hyon, a 5,000-ton-class destroyer that was originally displayed in April, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency. He asserted that by adding a "nuclear element," the exercises have become more provocative than before and that the North must now retaliate with "proactive and overwhelming" measures.

Using the initials of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, KCNA paraphrased Kim as saying, "The security environment around the DPRK is getting more serious day by day and the prevailing situation requires us to make a radical and swift change in the existing military theory and practice and rapid expansion of nuclearization."

Seoul has "always regarded the Ulchi exercises as defensive," according to Kang Yu-jung, spokeswoman for South Korea's new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, who seeks to strengthen ties with the North. However, he made no additional comments regarding Kim's statements. The defense ministry of South Korea stated that it did not currently have any updated evaluations of the North Korean warship's capabilities to offer.

Ulchi Freedom Shield will include training to prevent North Korean nuclear use and counter its missile attacks, according to South Korean and American military officials. It will also concentrate on thwarting North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat. Along with addressing threats from drones, GPS jamming, and cyberattacks, the exercise will also draw lessons from recent conflicts, including as Israel and Iran's dispute and Russia's war in Ukraine.