PYONGYANG
\nNorth Korea said it would respond to joint exercises by the United States and South Korea with \u201csustained, resolute and overwhelming\u201d military measures, the state\u2019s news agency KCNA has reported.
\nMonday\u2019s warning came amid a spate of missile tests by North Korea in recent weeks, including four ballistic missiles fired on Saturday, days after the United States and South Korea concluded their biggest-ever air force drills.
\nA statement from the General Staff of the Korean People\u2019s Army said it \u201cwill continue to correspond with all the anti-DPRK war drills of the enemy with the sustained, resolute and overwhelming practical military measures,\u201d using an acronym for North Korea\u2019s official name, KCNA said.
\nThe statement also noted the North\u2019s recent ballistic missile tests were a \u201cclear answer\u201d to Washington and Seoul over their joint exercises last week, calling the tests \u201ccorresponding military operations\u201d.
\n\u201cThe more persistently the enemies\u2019 provocative military moves continue, the more thoroughly and mercilessly the KPA will counter them,\u201d the statement said.
\nHundreds of US and South Korean warplanes \u2014 including powerful B-1B heavy bombers \u2014 participated in the Vigilant Storm exercises last week, in the first time B-1Bs have flown to the Korean peninsula since December 2017.
\nThe South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff had said the move demonstrated the \u201ccapability and readiness to firmly respond to any provocations from North Korea\u201d.
\nSuch military exercises have long provoked strong reactions from North Korea, which sees them as rehearsals for an invasion.
\nThe recent flurry of North Korean launches has included an intercontinental ballistic missile and one that landed near the South\u2019s territorial waters.
\nSouth Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called the barrage \u201ceffectively a territorial invasion\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PYONGYANG North Korea said it would respond to joint exercises by the United States and South Korea with \u201csustained, resolute and overwhelming\u201d military measures, the state\u2019s news agency KCNA has reported. Monday\u2019s warning came amid a spate of missile tests by North Korea in recent weeks, including four ballistic missiles fired on Saturday, days after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-293864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n