UNSC Ignoring Washington's Attempts to Turn Korean Peninsula Into Firing Range, Says Pyongyang

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is failing to act despite the United States' attempts to turn the Korean Peninsula into a theater of war and a military base, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

"The reality goes to clearly prove that the U.S. and South Korea are the arch criminals deliberately disrupting the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region. This being a hard fact, the UNSC is groundlessly pulling up the DPRK [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea], which has maintained patience and self-control to defuse the tension in the Korean peninsula, and is showing no expression of concern, far from deterring the U.S. seeking to turn the Korean peninsula into a theatre of war exercises and a military base," the spokesperson said, as quoted by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"We give a serious warning and strongly denounce the fact that the UNSC put the just right to self-defence of a sovereign state only on the table of its discussion in favor of the U.S., oblivious of its main principle for justice and impartiality. The UNSC, regarding the immoderate moves of the U.S. and South Korea aggravating the regional situation as a fait accompli without discerning between right and wrong, has taken issue with the DPRK's exercise of its just and legitimate right to self-defence to deter such moves. This is an open expression of ignorance and infringement upon the sovereignty of the DPRK, and a hostile act that the DPRK is bound to take due counteraction," the spokesperson said.

The diplomat recalled that the US and South Korea are planning to hold over 20 joint military exercises in 2023, adding that the countries "put their scale and scope on the level of the largest-ever field mobile tactical exercises."

"This predicts that the situation in the Korean peninsula and the region will be again plunged into the grave vortex of escalating tension," the spokesperson said.

North Korea reserves the right to mirror the US' approach to "show its muscle and counter everything with muscle," the spokesperson said.

"In case the U.S. and south Korea carry into practice their already-announced plan for military drills which the DPRK, with just apprehension and reason, regards as preparations for an aggression war, they will face unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions," the statement read.

In late January, South Korea and the US agreed to further expand and bolster the level and scale of their joint exercises this year. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Washington "stands firm in its extended deterrence commitment," adding that Pyongyang had carried out an unprecedented number of "provocative actions" in 2022.