N Korea denounces US and allies amid drills

The US, South Korea and Japan staged joint naval missile defence drills off the Korean peninsula yesterday, as North Korea denounced the “gang bosses” of Washington and its allies for increasing the risk of nuclear war.
The three nations staged exercises in international waters off South Korea’s southern Jeju island to improve their ability to detect and track targets, and share information in the event of provocation by Pyongyang, South Korea’s military said. The drills come as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for “radically” modernising the weapons and equipment of his country’s naval forces, criticising an increased presence of US strategic assets in the region.
In a speech to mark Navy Day, Kim said the “gang bosses” of the US, Japan and South Korea announced regular joint military exercises, news agency KCNA reported, apparently referring to their August 18 summit at Camp David, Maryland.
“Owing to the reckless confrontational moves of the US and other hostile forces, the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been reduced to the world’s biggest war hardware concentration spot, the most unstable waters with the danger of a nuclear war,” Kim was quoted by KCNA as saying.
In the first standalone meeting between the leaders of the US, South Korea and Japan, the three agreed to deepen military and economic cooperation as they seek to project unity in the face of China’s growing power and the North’s nuclear threats. Japan said the sharing of information on ballistic missiles was part of the drills yesterday.
“The exercises will strongly facilitate trilateral cooperation and demonstrate the commitment of Japan, the US, and the Republic of Korea to protect a free and open international order based on the rule of law,” Japan’s defence ministry said in a statement.