South Korea’s resumption of small-scale military drills with the United States violated a recent agreement aimed at lowering tensions on the Korean Peninsu
SEOUL – South Korea’s resumption of small-scale military drills with the United States violated a recent agreement aimed at lowering tensions on the Korean Peninsula, North Korean state media said on Monday.
About 500 United States and South Korean marines began military drills last week that were among joint exercises indefinitely suspended in June as Seoul and Washington focused on engaging with North Korea.
The Korean Marine Exchange Program violated a Sept. 19 agreement signed by North and South Korea that called for a halt to “all hostile acts,” said the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official party newspaper.
The joint two-week drills are “directly against the inter-Korean military agreement that promised to eliminate practical threats of war and fundamental hostile relations from the Korean peninsula,” the newspaper said.
A spokesman for South Korea’s defense ministry on Monday rejected the North’s criticism, saying they are defensive exercises involving small units under the size of a battalion.
