Pyongyang, September 13 (KCNA) -- The U.S.-led hostile forces are desperately resorting to the strengthening of the military cooperation on the assumption that nuclear weapons would be used, posing a serious threat to the security environment of the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the region.

The U.S. is going to hold with the ROK the third nuclear operation drill dubbed Iron Mace simulating a full-scale nuclear war under the pretext of countering someone's "use of nuclear weapons" from September 15 in the wake of the ones in August last year and April this year.

It was open to public that the enemies will train themselves to be ready to take all extended deterrence measures to cope with the DPRK's "nuclear and missile threats" including the joint planning procedure which requires the ROK to support the U.S. nuclear strategic assets with its conventional combat power in case they are deployed.

The reality clearly shows that the U.S. completely made the nuclear strike on the DPRK a fait accompli and is recklessly pushing ahead with the military preparations for it at the practical stage.

Timed to coincide with the nuclear operation drill Iron Mace, the U.S., Japan and the ROK will launch the third multi-domain joint military exercises Freedom Edge in the open sea south of Jeju Island.

The U.S. and Japan are also staging actual manoeuvres Resolute Dragon on the largest scale ever seen before in Japan from September 11 with huge forces and latest war hardware involved in it.

And the U.S.-ROK will reportedly have "nuclear consultative group" meeting, a confab to map out the scenario for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, in October for the second time this year.

In particular, it is said that there is a possibility the U.S., together with Japan and the ROK, would prepare the "plan for using nuclear weapons in case of contingency in the Indo-Pacific region" with the "nuclear consultative group" meeting as an occasion. This public opinion shows that the danger of a nuclear war is expanding to a large area as well as the Korean peninsula.

As evidenced by the upcoming Iron Mace and Freedom Edge whose codenames themselves are bellicose and ongoing Resolute Dragon soon after the U.S.-ROK large-scale nuclear war drills Ulji Freedom Shield which included the drill of striking the DPRK's nuclear facilities, muscle-flexing of the U.S.-ROK, U.S.-Japan and U.S.-Japan-ROK targeting the DPRK and the regional states is dramatically increasing in its scale on the Korean peninsula and its vicinity. This clearly shows that the U.S.-Japan-ROK nuclear military alliance with the U.S. as its axis has entered into full operation.

This is evidently an alarming development that seriously threatens the security of the Korean peninsula and the region.

The Freedom Edge and Iron Mace are the products of the Camp David confab in 2023 and the "nuclear operation guidelines" of last year, as well as the dangerous nuclear war exercises devised by former heads of the three countries.

However, the obsolete policy legacy of triangular military cooperation is invariably inherited even though the rulers have been replaced. On the contrary, the U.S.-Japan-ROK military collusion and nexus are reaching the highest record in history with a composite and multilateral approach based on preemptive nuclear attack.

This proves that the war hysteria of the U.S. and its minions to dominate the Korean peninsula and the region by dint of upper hand in strength is growing stronger day by day.

The present situation urgently demands that the DPRK further harden the counteraction posture of the nuclear force and requires it to thoroughly neutralize the military activities of the aggressive nature among the U.S., Japan and the ROK with absolute military strength.

The destruction of the balance of power on the Korean peninsula and in the region will never be allowed. -0-