The Pentagon on Thursday pushed back against North Korean criticism of joint U.S. military exercises with South Korea scheduled for next month.
"We don't scale or conduct our exercises based off North Korea's anger," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn told The Japan Times. "Our exercises, like the combined air exercise you're asking about, ensure readiness and enhance interoperability between the U.S. and South Korea while allowing the diplomats the space they need to have open conversations with North Korea."
Senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official Kwon Jong Gun said in a statement carried by state-run media late Wednesday that the decision to conduct the joint aerial training, apparently a scaled-down version of the Vigilant Ace exercises last held in 2017, was "an extremely provocative and dangerous act" that amounted to "throwing a wet blanket over the spark of the DPRK-U.S. dialogue on the verge of extinction."
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