U.S.-Japan-South Korea maritime drills are ‘threat,’ North Korea says

Seoul – Maritime drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan in September constitute a “threat” to North Korea, Pyongyang said Monday, branding Washington as hostile.

The exercises and North Korea’s opposition to them come as U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed for a new meeting with Kim Jong Un.

The three allied nations will conduct the North Korea-focused Freedom Edge exercise from Sept. 7 to 11 in international waters east and south of South Korea’s Jeju Island, with Seoul saying it is defensive in nature.

Freedom Edge was first held in June 2024 following an agreement reached by the leaders of the three countries at their Camp David summit in 2023.

“The U.S. military announced its plan to stage the U.S.-Japan-ROK multidomain joint military exercises Freedom Edge, which constitute a threat to the DPRK and regional countries,” North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement released by the official KCNA news agency, using the initials for the South and North’s official names.

Washington “is perpetrating air espionage and other anti-DPRK military provocations one after another,” the spokesperson said.

“The Trump administration has thus fully reconfirmed its invariable hostile policy to wantonly violate the sovereignty, political system and security interests of the DPRK,” the official added.

Against this backdrop, North Korea’s arsenal of nuclear weapons is “the most responsible and correct option for ensuring regional peace and security,” the spokesperson said, calling its nuclear arms an “absolute guarantee for defending its sovereignty.”

It comes after Seoul and Washington wrapped up one of their major annual exercises, Ulchi Freedom Shield, which Trump had ordered scaled back — cutting it from 11 days to five — citing high costs and his good relationship with Kim.

Despite Trump’s overtures, North Korea has shown little sign of reciprocating, firing missiles and condemning the downsized drills as well as Washington’s approval of arms sales to South Korea and plans to fund programs documenting human rights abuses in the North.