American-led military exercises were to blame for the ongoing feverish tensions on the Korean Peninsula, a Chinese official said Monday as the United States and its Asian allies kicked off two days of naval war games to deter North Korea.
"The continuous holding of various military exercises by certain countries is the main reason for the recent high fever on the peninsula," said Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry. "The parties concerned should stop their military pressure and create favorable conditions for easing conflict and restarting dialogue."
Pyongyang's state news agency KCNA said in an editorial on Sunday that the nuclear-armed state would respond in kind to the joint exercises, foreshadowing more missile launches, which have given neighboring Seoul and Tokyo a reason to band together.
The aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz and its strike group were joined by the navies of South Korea and Japan off the former's southern island of Jeju as the group began two days of anti-submarine and search-and-rescue drills with an eye on the North's growing capabilities.
The exercises are being led by Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney, who commands Carrier Strike Group 11, the South Korean defense ministry said in a statement. "The anti-submarine drills will focus on enhancing the countries' capabilities to detect, track, share information on, and defeat the North's underwater threats."
Rear Admiral Kim Inho, who is leading the South Korean flotilla involved in the drills, said: "We'll decisively respond to and neutralize any type of provocation by North Korea."
Taking part in the exercises are the Nimitz and destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Decatur, as well as South Korean destroyers ROKS Yulgok Yi I, ROKS Choe Yeong, ROKS Dae Jo-yeong, combat support ship ROKS Soyang, and Japan's destroyer JS Umigiri.
Pyongyang in March was highly critical of what it said was a month of U.S. and South Korean war games aimed at occupying its territory. The allies argued the exercises were defensive in nature and a response to Kim Jong Un's 21 missile tests this year alone.
Six months ago, after the U.S. led the first such trilateral naval drills in five years, Kim's regime responded by firing a ballistic missile over Japan.
In additional prepared remarks published by China's state broadcaster CCTV, Mao underscored Beijing's preference for "denuclearizing of the peninsula," as well as the establishment of an inter-Korean "peace mechanism."
"We hope all parties will move in the same direction, address their legitimate concerns in a balanced manner, and maintain peace and stability on the peninsula," she said.
KCNA, in a litany of complaints about the exercises, said the U.S. and its allies sought "to wreck peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the region."
"The U.S. and its followers should never forget the fact that their rival state has possessed the nuclear attack capability in practice as well as the characteristics of the people and army of the DPRK which do not make empty talk," the agency said, referring to the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Now that the U.S. and the South Korean puppets have openly made a military provocation to the DPRK, the latter's option will be in conformity with it," it said.
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About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more
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