North Korea has denounced joint military drills conducted by the United States and South Korea, vowing that the exercise of its right to self-defence will continue to completely neutralise the enemies' military threat. The condemnation was reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea's state media outlet, which characterised the drills as more provocative than last year's exercises.

North Korea's self-defence stance

Pyongyang's statement went beyond a routine condemnation, framing its military posture as an active and ongoing response to what it described as escalating threats. According to KCNA, North Korea asserted that its exercise of the right to self-defence would continue as a direct counter to the perceived military threat posed by the US-South Korea drills.

Concerns over trilateral military cooperation

Beyond criticising the bilateral US-South Korea drills, North Korea also raised concerns about the broader trilateral military framework involving the US, Japan, and South Korea. According to KCNA, North Korea stated that this three-way military cooperation is turning into a nuclear alliance, signalling an escalation in Pyongyang's rhetoric against the regional security arrangement.

North Korea has declared it will continue to expand its nuclear deterrent, according to a statement carried by state media KCNA. The country warned that a new US nuclear policy could be applied first on the Korean Peninsula, and that it would respond to any new level of threat with a new level of deterrent.

North Korea's position on nuclear deterrence

The KCNA statement outlined North Korea's stance in direct response to developments in US nuclear policy. North Korea framed the Korean Peninsula as a potential primary theatre for any new US nuclear posture, signalling its intent to calibrate its own deterrent capabilities accordingly.

The country stated explicitly that its response would match the scale of any perceived threat, indicating a policy of proportional nuclear escalation as its declared strategic posture.