Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - North Korea has said that the U.S. is setting up a military alliance in Asia similar to NATO. It says th...
 |
| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - North Korea has said that the U.S. is setting up a military alliance in Asia similar to NATO. It says this is happening because the U.S. is always trying to get rid of North Korea's government.
People are worried that North Korea is getting ready to do its first nuclear test in five years. This comes after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed that more U.S. weapons would be used if needed to stop North Korea.
"The United States is making a full-fledged move to set up an Asia-style NATO while openly holding military exercises with Japan and South Korea," North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement on its website on Sunday.
It was talking about recent military drills between the United States, South Korea, and Japan. For the first time in more than four years, the US held exercises with South Korean forces that included a US aircraft carrier.
North Korea has been testing missiles often this year, and it has said again and again that these tests are practise for a war that will overthrow it.
"This shows that the U.S. is lying when it says it wants "diplomatic engagement" and "dialogue without preconditions," and it also shows that the U.S. still wants to overthrow our government by force, the North Korean ministry said.
It didn't talk about its nuclear or missile programmes directly, but it did say that U.S. hostility forced it to build up its defences.
"The reality...makes us feel like we have to work hard to get even stronger so we can stop all kinds of hostile actions by the United States," it said.
The US wants North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and has offered to meet with North Korean leaders "at any time, with no conditions" to talk about the problem. The offers have been turned down by North Korea.
The criticism from North Korea came a day before South Korea's president went to Spain for the first-ever NATO summit by a South Korean leader.
South Korea wants to strengthen its relationship with NATO and play a bigger role in world security, so its national security adviser said last week that the country plans to set up a delegation at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.
