North Korea Issues Latest Statement of Discontent Over US-South Korea Drills

Samuel Allegri
By Samuel Allegri
November 13, 2019World News
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North Korea Issues Latest Statement of Discontent Over US-South Korea Drills
US B-1B bomber flies over Korean peninsula during military drills on Dec. 06, 2017. (South Korea Air Force via Reuters TV)

North Korea’s State Affairs Commission, the country’s supreme decision-making body, condemned on Nov. 13 the U.S.-South Korean military drills and said that the United States will encounter a “bigger threat and harsh suffering” if it doesn’t respond to Kim Jong Un’s deadline for nuclear talks.

A statement by an unnamed spokesman for the State Affairs Commission said that the drills go against agreements between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, The Associated Press reported.

People watch a TV showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
People watch a TV showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 31, 2019. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

The United States “will face greater threat and be forced to admit its failure, being put into trouble before long if it doesn’t do anything to change the trend of the present situation,” said the statement.

Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military exercises
U.S. Marines (L) and South Korean Marines take positions after landing on the beach during the joint military combined amphibious exercise, called Ssangyong, part of the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military exercises, in Pohang, South Korea, on March 12, 2016. (Kim Jun-bum/Yonhap via AP)

“We, without being given anything, gave things the U.S. president can brag about but the U.S. side has not yet taken any corresponding step,” the statement read. “Now, betrayal is only what we feel from the U.S. side.”

Last month, North Korea made threats to resume nuclear and long-range missile tests, saying that there’s a “limit to the patience of the DPRK.”

North Korean representatives met with U.S. officials in Sweden in October, and both parties referred to the outcome of the meeting differently.

NTD Photo
A motorcade carrying North Korean delegation heads for Villa Elfvik on the island of Lidingo off Stockholm, Sweden, October 5, 2019. (Anna Ringstrom/Reuters)

North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong Gil said that “The negotiations have not fulfilled our expectation and finally broke off.”

“The U.S. raised expectations by offering suggestions like a flexible approach, new method and creative solutions, but they have disappointed us greatly and dampened our enthusiasm for negotiation by bringing nothing to the negotiation table,” she added.

However, a U.S. Department of State press release, said that the previously mentioned comments by the North Korean delegation “do not reflect the content or the spirit of today’s 8 1/2 hour discussion,” adding that “The U.S. brought creative ideas and had good discussions with its DPRK counterparts.”

The North Korean statement also said that there was “no justifiable reason” for the U.N. Security Council to be involved with an issue that is about North Korea’s self-defense and added that the European countries had “acted at the instigation of the U.S.”

North Korea missile testing
This image made from video of a still image broadcasted by North Korea’s KRT shows a rocket soaring during a test in North Korea on Aug. 1, 2019. (KRT via AP Video)

“The reality urges the DPRK to reconsider crucial preemptive measures taken by it for the building confidence in the U.S.,” the statement also said.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The meeting on the outskirts of Stockholm on Oct. 5 was the first working-level formal session to take place after the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean border zone about 4 months ago.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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