North Korea Denounces US-South Korea Iron Mace Nuclear Drills
North Korea condemned combined US-South Korea military exercises as nuclear war rehearsals and vowed to accelerate its own nuclear weapons development.
The Workers' Party of Korea denounced the Iron Mace combined military exercise between South Korea and the United States, describing the drills as a "hideous nuclear war rehearsal." The tabletop exercise, held from September 29 to October 2 at the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters in Seoul, integrated South Korean conventional forces with U.S. nuclear capabilities to deter threats from Pyongyang.
Kim Jong-sik, a senior official of the Workers' Party of Korea, stated that Iron Mace, along with the Hoguk and Freedom Flag exercises and the U.S.-Japan Keen Sword drills, justifies the decision to bolster North Korean nuclear forces. Pyongyang declared that accelerating its nuclear deterrent is an "immutable" national defense policy required to protect state sovereignty and regional peace.
