North Korea Condemns Seoul-Washington Military Exercises

North Korea's military on Friday released a white paper condemning South Korea and the United States for conducting joint military exercises, Yonhap News Agency reported.

    A mission of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at the truce village of Panmunjom said that the allies' annual military drills are nothing more than exercises to prepare for a preemptive nuclear strike against North Korea, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

    The Seoul-Washington annual military drills are set to wrap up the two-week run on Friday, and have long been denounced by North Korea as a rehearsal for northern invasion. "The white paper branded the joint military exercises as a direct product of the hideous hostile policy toward the DPRK pursued by the U.S. and its military strategy," the KCNA said. 

    It is rare for the North's military to issue a white paper denouncing the military drills as they usually make public their stance through other means such as statements or open letters, according to Yonhap.

    North Korea has said that its nuclear weapons program serves as a deterrence against what it called Washington's hostile policy. "If they persistently resort to military exercises and other nuclear war exercises against the DPRK, they will face the most merciless and miserable end," the white paper said.

Source: QNA