North Korea denounces US-South Korea joint military drills, KCNA says

SEOUL, Aug 19 (Reuters) – North Korea denounced military drills by the U.S. and South Korea, saying it would continue exercising its right to self-defence to counter what it called military threats from the two countries, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday.

A KCNA commentary called the U.S. and South Korea “warmongers” that raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula, denouncing the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise.

The criticism comes after U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” U.S. participation in the annual exercise, and mentioned his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump also said on Monday that Kim had responded to his outreach, without disclosing the nature of the contact.

The drills began as scheduled on Monday, but South Korean media reported U.S. Forces Korea Commander Xavier Brunson visited South Korea’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday to discuss plans to scale back the exercise.

Trump has sought to revive engagement with Kim, under whose leadership North Korea has expanded its nuclear weapons and missile programmes despite U.N. sanctions.

The KCNA commentary did not mention Trump or his actions.

Pyongyang routinely denounces the allies’ exercises as hostile, while Washington and Seoul say the drills are defensive and necessary to maintain readiness against North Korea’s military threats.

KCNA said the allies’ actions would worsen tensions across the peninsula and wider Asia-Pacific region. The KCNA commentary did not specify the measures North Korea would take.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)