North Korea vows ‘overwhelming’ response vs war games

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The North Korean military said its response to United States-South Korean war drills would be "resolute and overwhelming," state media reported Monday.

The warning came after a spate of North Korean weapons tests last week — including an intercontinental ballistic missile — as the US and South Korea conducted their biggest-ever air force exercise.

The US and South Korea have warned that such missile launches could culminate in a nuclear test by North Korea.

The North Korean military, formally known as the Korean People's Army, said it was responding to Vigilant Storm — the US-South Korean exercise — describing it as "an open provocation," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Vigilant Storm was "aimed at intentionally escalating the tension in the region and a dangerous war drill of very high aggressive nature directly targeting" North Korea, the KPA said.

North Korea will respond to all "anti-DPRK war drills" with "sustained, resolute and overwhelming" measures, it said.

The US has dismissed criticism of the exercise as North Korean propaganda, saying it posed no threat to other nations.

The KPA said it conducted operations, including the launch of tactical ballistic missiles that simulated attacks on air force bases, and practised shooting down enemy aircraft.

One ballistic missile was launched to test "a special functional warhead paralyzing the operation command system of the enemy," the KPA said, without providing any further details about that weapon.

The North Korean air force also conducted a "large-scale all-out combat sortie operation" involving 500 planes, according to KCNA.

That mobilization prompted South Korea to scramble fighter jets on Friday.