Press Statement of Spokesman for DPRK Ministry of National Defence

Pyongyang, October 30 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea issued the following press statement on Friday:

In recent days, the provocative frenzy of the enemy states aimed to raise the level of war preparations against the DPRK has unprecedentedly escalated the military tension in the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. and the ROK military warmongers launched the provocative large-scale joint air drill Freedom Flag against our state on October 26 by mobilizing huge air forces, amid the large-scale field mobile war drill which is being conducted in a frantic way in the whole area of the ROK every day.

The drill involves fighters of the army, navy and marines, to say nothing of air force, and AWACS, air refueling tanker and attack drones. This clearly shows the difference between the "defensive character" of the drill advocated by them and their military purpose.

In particular, the Third Expedition of the U.S. marines, the advance force for overseas aggression, staged the multi-domain reconnaissance drill for the first time in the ROK, which had been conducted in Hawaii, and openly asserted that its main purpose was to support the anti-DPRK preemptive strike system Kill Chain of the ROK. The fact clearly shows the gravity of the military attempt pursued by the enemy states.

The frequent military moves of the enemy states at the doorstep of the DPRK are increasing the danger of inviting an unexpected armed conflict that will result in catastrophic consequences as the ROK military gangsters are deliberately aggravating the tension in the DPRK-ROK border area.

This clearly proves that the cause of endangering the security environment in the region day by day is none other than the U.S. and the ROK which are seeking to seize the superiority of strength through the expansion of the military alliance system and the joint military drills under various pretexts.

The grave situation, in which the national security environment is being exposed to an intolerable threat by the ever-undisguised close-to-actual war and preemptive attack-type hostile military acts of the U.S. and the ROK, demands the practical application of stronger counteraction forces to deter and remove all forms of dangerous elements.

Under the present situation, in which the enemy states' reckless demonstration of strength is becoming routine, it is an indolent idea to expect that the regional situation will be eased of its own accord with the passage of time, and it is the clear stand of our army that only the ready response to a potential new danger variable is a sure way to raise the national security index.

Any hostile act of violating the security right of the state is the target of the DPRK's armed forces' just exercise of its sovereign right.

There is no limit for the DPRK's option to maintain a strong deterrent posture capable of effectively coping with all threats posed by the military moves of the U.S. and its vassal forces and to increase the control of the situation in the Korean peninsula and the region.

The most obvious confrontational intention is bound to invite the most obvious will to respond to it.

Our armed forces will thoroughly deter threats with force and only act in such manner that the enemy states can understand.

No one can put a veto on the DPRK's legitimate exercise of its right to self-defence. -0-