North Korea Criticizes Ulchi Freedom Shield Joint Exercise as "Disgrace Against Nuclear Powers"

President Yoon Criticized as 'Confrontation Zealot' and 'Main Culprit of Tension Escalation'

On the first day of the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise Eulji Freedom Shield (UFS) on the 22nd, military vehicles are crossing the Imjin River at the Unification Bridge in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 22nd, North Korea condemned the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' (UFS) as a "pitiful disgrace against a nuclear-armed state."

The external propaganda outlet Ryomyong, in a commentary titled "War-Hungry Army Hastening Self-Destruction" under the name of an individual affiliated with the National Reconciliation Council, pointed out, "Despite our repeated warnings and great domestic and international concerns, the traitorous Yoon Seok-yeol faction colluded with the U.S. and stubbornly pushed forward the large-scale North invasion war exercise 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' joint military exercise."

The outlet claimed, "The frenzied confrontation to be carried out in the skies, land, and seas of South Korea until early September is a reckless military provocation that pushes the already unstable Korean Peninsula situation to the brink of war, igniting the fuse for an aggressive war."

Defining UFS as a reckless military provocation, the outlet also raised its criticism against President Yoon Seok-yeol, calling him a "confrontation fanatic" and "the main culprit of escalating tensions." Regarding this, it sarcastically stated, "Ignoring the people's livelihood issues, becoming the vanguard for the U.S.'s ambition for world domination and recklessly rushing forward is nothing but the foolish bravado of a top-class pro-American traitor who is willing to sacrifice everything to militarily crush his own people."

The Choson Sinbo, the official newspaper of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also argued on the same day that the trilateral military alliance among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan would ultimately lead to conflict with North Korea and could escalate to nuclear war. While the U.S.-South Korea and U.S.-Japan alliances exist respectively, the trilateral U.S.-South Korea-Japan alliance is not a fact. This mention appears to be conscious of the accelerated military cooperation among the U.S., South Korea, and Japan since the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.

Kim Ji-young, editor-in-chief of Choson Sinbo, stated in an article titled "The U.S.-Japan-South Korea Trilateral Military Alliance Driving the War Crisis" on the 22nd, "In today's new Cold War structure, building a triangular structure of threats and provocations targeting the nuclear-armed state of Choson (North Korea) is a foolish act of putting a finger on the trigger of nuclear war and bluffing, and a military adventure with no chance of success from the start."

Editor Kim added, "Choson (North Korea) has always taken necessary defense strengthening measures ahead of changes in the security environment," and "The purpose of completing nuclear forces despite hardships is to prevent nuclear war," arguing that nuclear weapons are a means of self-defensive defense.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.