North Korea Threatens “Resolute Counteraction” Ahead of US-South Korea Military Drills

North Korea has warned it will take “resolute counteraction” if provoked during the upcoming joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States, according to a statement from its defense minister released by state media on Monday.

The warning comes ahead of the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, scheduled to take place from August 18 to 28. The exercises are designed to enhance defense readiness and deter threats from the nuclear-armed North.

“The armed forces of the DPRK will cope with the war drills of the US and (South Korea) with a thoroughgoing and resolute counteraction posture… at the level of the right to self-defence,” North Korean Defence Chief No Kwang Chol said via the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Pyongyang has long denounced joint US-South Korea military exercises, viewing them as rehearsals for an invasion. The Korean War began in 1950 after the North invaded the South, and hostilities formally remain unresolved due to the absence of a peace treaty.

Currently, the United States maintains approximately 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea. Both Washington and Seoul insist that their joint drills are purely defensive in nature.

Interestingly, the warning comes amid what appeared to be a slight thaw in inter-Korean relations. Both sides recently began dismantling border loudspeakers previously used to blast propaganda and psychological warfare messages across the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

According to Seoul’s military, North Korean troops have started taking down their own loudspeakers following a similar move by South Korea’s newly elected President Lee Jae Myung, who has emphasized reducing tensions with Pyongyang.

Since taking office, Lee has made gestures aimed at de-escalation, including asking civic groups to stop sending anti-regime leaflets across the border via balloons — a tactic that had heightened tensions during the previous administration under Yoon Suk Yeol, which adopted a more hardline stance against the North.

Under Yoon, relations between the two Koreas had reached one of their lowest points in years, while Pyongyang deepened its ties with Moscow in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Whether Lee’s softer approach will endure in the face of renewed military exercises remains to be seen, but Monday’s warning from Pyongyang signals that tensions on the peninsula remain precarious.