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| ▲ Citizens watch the news at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Oct. 4, 2022, when North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) NK-US aircraft carrier
(LEAD) N. Korea's military claims to be 'gravely' watching Seoul-Washington aircraft carrier drills
(ATTN: UPDATES with China's response in last 2 paras)
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's military said Saturday it is "gravely" watching the Seoul-Washington joint naval exercises involving a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier, calling the operation "a military bluff."
Tensions have been escalating between the communist state and the Seoul-Washington alliance, following Pyongyang's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan on Tuesday and the entailing South Korea-U.S. joint drills.
The 103,000-ton USS Ronald Reagan, the cream of the joint naval drills held Saturday, is being thoroughly monitored in the East Sea, an unnamed spokesperson for the North's defense ministry said in an interview with the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"The nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan has conspired with the South Korean naval vessels to execute joint sea drills against our nation," the spokesperson told the North Korean news outlet.
"The move is a military bluff that is aimed at our just response for their apparently provocative, threatening South Korea-U.S. drills," the spokesperson added.
The North apparently referred to its recent firing of a series of ballistic missiles as "our just response."
"The DPRK armed forces are gravely watching the development of the current situation, which is very worrisome," the spokesperson said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
Seoul and Washington held the joint naval drills in the international waters of the East Sea on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, expressed hope that concerned parties will refrain from tough language and create conditions for the resumption of dialogue, while portraying the situation on the peninsula as "complex and sensitive."
She reiterated China's position that each side's concerns should be settled through dialogue and negotiations in a "balanced" manner.
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