North Korea warns of retaliation over U.S.-Japan-South Korea drills

North Korea has sharply criticised joint military exercises held by the United States, Japan, and South Korea, warning of “grave consequences” and vowing to respond if provoked further.

In a statement published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sunday, Pyongyang’s Ministry of National Defense called Friday’s trilateral air drill a direct threat to regional stability. The exercise involved U.S. B-52H bombers, South Korean KF-16 fighter jets, and Japan’s F-2 aircraft.

“We express serious concern over these hostile military actions, which disregard our security interests,” the statement read. “The repeated deployment of strategic assets near the Korean Peninsula risks triggering an unpredictable military confrontation.”

North Korea said it retains the right to take “reflexive countermeasures” to defend its sovereignty and declared that an “overwhelming military capability” remains its only viable deterrent.

The drills came on the same day as a high-level meeting in Seoul between the top military commanders of the three countries, where they pledged to deepen defence cooperation in the face of shared threats.

Pyongyang accused the meeting of openly signalling further military alignment against it and warned that its armed forces remain on alert, ready to “suppress invasion attempts and respond effectively to acts of war.”

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