World

North Korea slams US-South Korea military drills

By Joyce Lee

Aug 14, 2026

South Korea and the US will conduct ‌the ⁠annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) joint military drills. -EPA

North Korea has denounced upcoming US-South ‌Korean military drills and says they are more provocative than 2025's ‌exercises, state media reports.

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US-Japan-South Korea military co-operation is turning into a nuclear ‌alliance and North Korea will respond to a new level of threat with a new level of deterrent, state media KCNA cited a spokesperson for North Korea's Foreign Ministry as saying on Friday.

South Korea and the United ‌States will conduct ‌the ⁠annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) joint military drills from Monday to August 27, incorporating exercises to counter drones, GPS disruption and cyber attacks as they adapt to North Korea's evolving capabilities.

South Korea's Unification Ministry said this was North Korea's first official response on the upcoming exercise, which Pyongyang routinely denounces ⁠as a provocation that heightens tensions.

North ‌Korea on Friday also said it would further strengthen its nuclear deterrence, accusing the US ‌of pursuing a new nuclear strategy that lowers the threshold for using weapons and could push global security "to the brink of a nuclear war".

In a commentary, state media KCNA cited US nuclear co-operation with South Korea and extended-deterrence commitments to Japan, saying the Korean Peninsula ‌could become a priority target of the alleged strategy.

On Wednesday, North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast.

The missile was launched from the North's Wonsan area, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, six days after North Korea fired another ballistic missile from ⁠the same area.