North Korea has lashed out at US-led joint military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region involving South Korea and other nations, claiming they set a "new record of hostility" and threatening that "proportional or greater counteractions" are necessary.

In a statement released on Friday through the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yo-jong, Vice Department Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, pointed to the US-led "Pacific Vanguard 2026," calling it "thoroughly another threatening war game devised by the United States for bloc confrontation in the region."

Listing other US-led military exercises such as Cobra Gold, Pitch Black, RIMPAC, and Super Garuda Shield, Kim denounced them for pursuing "impure aims."

In particular, she noted that South Korea and Japan have taken part in all of these joint military exercises, asserting that this "indicates that belligerent military maneuvers spearheaded by the United States are being intensified based on the trilateral US-Japan-South Korea military cooperation framework, which is currently in full operation."

Kim argued that the primary target of the trilateral military cooperation among Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo is North Korea, criticizing that "only a vicious cycle of escalating tensions is repeating due to the reckless and provocative hegemonic moves of the United States."

Premising her remarks as her "personal view," Kim emphasized, "The more external threats to our national security increase, the more our physical strength is bound to be steadily reinforced in direct proportion."

She assessed the current situation as one where "new records of hostility against the DPRK are being set in actual practice," adding, "This raises the necessity of setting a new record in our proportional or even more offensive counteractions," signaling that Pyongyang will respond aggressively to future US-led military moves.

Kim also said, "There will not be the slightest change of course on our path toward upgrading our nuclear war deterrence," warning that "if it is judged that our nation's supreme interests, military sovereignty, and regional security environment are gravely infringed upon by enemies' military maneuvers, the armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will invoke clauses under their constitutional duties and mobilize all available means."

Organized annually since 2019 by the US Navy's 7th Fleet Command, Pacific Vanguard is a multinational joint naval exercise involving the navies of South Korea, the United States, and Australia, as well as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and is known to serve as a check on China.

North Korea has continued its public protests against various joint exercises and military cooperation involving South Korea and the US since US President Donald Trump ordered a reduction in South Korea-US joint military exercises last month in August and expressed his intent to pursue a North Korea-US summit.

(Photo: Captured from KCNA website, Yonhap News)