Kim Song-gi, appointed defence minister late last month, issued the warning in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Monday. He said the US-led exercises were creating a serious security threat and pushing instability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond the region “to the limit”.
Kim said North Korea would respond “from the standpoint of power” if the United States and its allies attempted to trigger a confrontation. He also said Pyongyang could demonstrate its willingness and ability to answer what it regards as hostile military moves with more powerful action if necessary.
The statement was Kim’s first public warning of this kind since he replaced No Kwang-chol as defence minister in a senior military reshuffle announced on August 30. Kim had previously served as director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, one of the military’s most influential political organs.
Freedom Edge began on September 7 and is scheduled to run until September 11. The United States Indo-Pacific Command said the fourth iteration of the exercise is intended to strengthen interoperability, trust and readiness among the three militaries across air, maritime and cyber operations, as well as integrated air and missile defence.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said major naval and air assets from all three countries are participating in the exercise in international waters east and south of Jeju Island. The training includes maritime, air and cyber operations and is designed to improve operational coordination and joint response capabilities.
The opening ceremony was held at Yokota Air Base in Japan, where officers from the three countries emphasised combined readiness and interoperability. US Forces Japan commander Lieutenant General Stephen Jost said the partners stood together to preserve peace and security, while South Korea said the drills would be conducted systematically and safely under control.
Seoul has described the drill as defensive and consistent with international law, saying it is aimed at strengthening deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. Military officials from the three countries have also stressed that the exercise is intended to support regional peace and security.
Kim rejected that characterisation, accusing Washington of conducting a succession of military demonstrations and portraying trilateral security cooperation among the United States, South Korea and Japan as an increasingly offensive structure. His statement also criticised other US-linked exercises planned in the region.
He singled out Orient Shield, a Japan-US-Australia exercise scheduled from September 8 to 24, and objected to the planned deployment of the US Army’s Typhon mid-range missile system in Japan. The system can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles and other weapons, and its planned presence has also drawn objections from Russia.
Kim further criticised plans to deploy a US Army multidomain task force to South Korea later this year, arguing that such moves increase pressure on North Korea and reinforce what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy.
The warning comes despite steps by US President Donald Trump to scale back some bilateral exercises with South Korea. A major US-South Korean exercise in August was shortened, while another planned Marine Corps drill was cancelled, measures widely seen as an effort to reduce tensions and create room for diplomacy with Pyongyang.
North Korea, however, has continued to condemn allied exercises, maintaining that they amount to preparations for attack. Washington and Seoul reject that claim and say their military training is defensive and necessary because of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.
The latest statement also coincided with North Korea’s commissioning of its second 5,000-ton destroyer, the Kang Kon, at a ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un in Wonsan. Pyongyang says the warship can carry advanced conventional and nuclear-capable weapons as part of a broader naval modernisation programme.
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