North Korean defense minister slams trilateral military drills between South Korea, U.S., Japan, vows ‘resolute action’
North Korea’s defense minister denounced the Freedom Edge trilateral maritime exercise between South Korea, the United States and Japan Monday, warning of strong "countermeasures."
From right, Rear Adm. Kim Ji-hoon, director of exercises and training of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost, commander of the U.S. Forces Japan and Vice Adm. Yoshiyasu Ishimaki, director general of the Operations Department for the Japan Joint Staff pose for a photo during the opening ceremony for the 2026 Freedom Edge trilateral exercise at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo on Sept. 7.
UPI/YONHAP
North Korea’s defense minister slammed Freedom Edge, the trilateral maritime exercise between South Korea, the United States and Japan Monday, warning that it could respond with “more powerful and resolute action.”
North Korean Defense Minister Kim Song-gi said in an English-language statement released through the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) late Monday that “U.S.-led war demonstrations” posed a “crucial security threat” on the Korean Peninsula and beyond the region.
He added that if the United States and its allies attempt any new military confrontation, North Korea will also take “strong and reflective countermeasures from the standpoint of power.”
Earlier Monday, Seoul, Washington and Tokyo began the five-day, multidomain Freedom Edge exercise in international waters off near Jeju Island. The trilateral exercise proceeded as scheduled despite Seoul and Washington’s summertime military exercise, the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), being scaled back and shortened last month after U.S. President Donald Trump's order, a move seen as an olive branch to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Defense Minister Kim said the “tripartite military cooperation system is being transformed into a dangerous offensive entity accompanied by nuclear elements.”
He reiterated Pyongyang’s determination to strengthen its military capabilities, stating that the appropriate way to effectively control the escalating risk of conflict and to safeguard his country’s sovereignty and security interests is to “constantly apply the evolved new force.”
He added that it is North Korea’s principle “not to hesitate in the least to fulfill its constitutional duty to deter the hostile sources threatening national security and punish the provocateurs.”
Kim noted that “reckless military moves” by Washington and its partners could create conflict on the Korean Peninsula and warned of the consequences that could entail.
BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]
