DPRK warns S Korea of paying huge price for war exercises

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned Seoul on Sunday that it will launch preemptive attacks at any time in response to a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States.

The Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) military drill, which adopts a so-called "tailored deterrence strategy" this year, is a premeditated war exercise that follows Washington's hostile policy toward the DPRK and Seoul's provocation against inter-Korean unity, a spokesperson for the General Staff of Korean People's Army said in a statement.

This year's UFG drill, which engages a vast number of US and South Korean military forces and involves nuclear strike means, is putting the Korean Peninsula to an extremely critical situation, it stressed.

As the United States and its follower South Korea have declared war by employing the tailored deterrence strategy in the war maneuver, the DPRK once again claim to ruthlessly launch strongest attacks at any chosen time in its own way, the statement said.

By putting war maneuvers on a regular and annual basis, the United States and South Korea have more flagrantly demonstrated their aggressive attempt to subvert the system of the DPRK and realize the reunification of Korea through annexation of the country. To cope with the situation, the DPRK will carry out more intensive military exercises on a regular and annual basis, it added.

It also warned that Washington and Seoul, which responded to Pyongyang's peaceful proposals with war exercises instead, will pay a huge price of blood for their anti-peace and anti-nation moves.

The UFG is a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States aimed at defending South Korea from attacks from the DPRK. This year's UFG exercise is scheduled to start next Monday.