KB News Desk
North Korea on Tuesday denounced growing security cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan, warning that their participation in a major multinational naval exercise would prompt Pyongyang to develop new deterrent capabilities.
The Korean Central News Agency criticized the recently concluded Rim of the Pacific exercise, or RIMPAC, describing it as a US-led war rehearsal that has entrenched security instability in the Asia-Pacific region.
The biennial exercise, which ran from June 24 through July 31 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California, brought together some 30 countries, about 30,000 personnel and dozens of warships, submarines and aircraft.
South Korea participated in the US-led exercise for the first time as commander of the combined naval component, overseeing the operations of multinational maritime forces, including a US aircraft carrier.
The KCNA criticized the involvement of South Korea and Japan alongside the United States, claiming that operational elements rehearsed in previous trilateral drills had been incorporated into RIMPAC.
It also accused Seoul of strengthening military cooperation with Tokyo and expanding coordination with NATO countries.
“The security crisis in the Asia-Pacific region has become fixed as an irreversible structure,” KCNA said, arguing that the exercise demonstrated the increasingly confrontational nature of US-led regional security cooperation.
The report said countries targeted by such military activities had the right to strengthen their war deterrence, warning that the emergence of “new deterrent capabilities” would be an inevitable response to what it called mounting security threats.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, said the argument appeared intended to justify Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities as a legitimate exercise of self-defense.
“By arguing that stronger cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan is creating instability in Northeast Asia, North Korea is also trying to establish a justification for strengthening cooperation among North Korea, China and Russia,” Park said.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement Tuesday, North Korea also denounced recent efforts by a group of countries, including South Korea, the United States and Japan, to jointly respond to its alleged cyber activities.
Pyongyang dismissed accusations that it poses a cyber threat as politically motivated “slander,” claiming that they were intended to damage the country’s international reputation and justify greater pressure against it.
The statement also accused Washington and its partners of turning cybersecurity into another arena of geopolitical confrontation and interfering in the affairs of sovereign states.
South Korea, the United States and Japan have expanded cooperation against North Korean cyber operations, including cryptocurrency theft, money laundering and the use of overseas information technology workers to generate revenue.
The three countries say such activities provide funds for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while North Korea has repeatedly denied involvement in international cyberattacks.
According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, North Korea-linked hackers stole at least $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, up 51 percent from the previous year and the highest annual amount on record.
