North Korea Calls South a US “Puppet” Over Naval Exercise

North Korean state media on Friday sharply criticized South Korea as a “puppet” of the United States following its participation in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) in Hawaii, where the South Korean navy led the maritime forces for the first time.

Pyongyang warned that Seoul and Washington would have to bear full responsibility for any “unpredictable escalation” in the region.

RIMPAC, held every two years, is billed as the world’s largest international maritime exercise. Some 30 countries took part this year, including Japan, Canada and Australia.

According to the North Korean state news agency KCNA, however, the event was not a “routine drill against a hypothetical adversary” but a war demonstration by the US and its allies targeting countries in the Indo-Pacific.

KCNA also pointed to deepening military cooperation between South Korea and Japan and Seoul’s growing ties with NATO.

The agency also criticized a joint US-South Korean Marine Corps exercise, saying the air drill simulated “deep infiltration into enemy rear areas” from the US Navy’s USS Essex.

The rhetoric comes as North Korea intensifies efforts to modernize its navy. Earlier this month, leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of a strategic cruise missile and tests of weapons systems aboard the new 5,000-ton destroyer Kang Kon.

(Reuters, Max)