Photo : YONHAP News
North Korea has condemned South Korea and the United States' annual Freedom Shield exercise, calling it a "dangerous provocative act." In a statement on Monday, the North’s foreign ministry warned that the "random exercise of strength by the U.S. will result in an aggravated security crisis" and that South Korea and the U.S. are merely adding justification to the North’s hardline stance against Washington. The statement said the exercise is a "dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot, to the extreme point." It further asserted that "the reckless action and unreasonable choice of the U.S. seeking to 'solemnly' play the first movement of a war symphony through the largest-ever military provocation this year" will only harm the U.S. security.
The statement comes as South Korea and the U.S. are set to begin their combined Freedom Shield exercise, which will run through March 20.