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\u201cThe large-scale nuclear war exercises and blackmails, which the U.S. staged for a whole year without a break in collaboration with its followers to stifle our republic, make one conclude that the option we have taken was the right one and we should go along the way to the last,\u201d Ja said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He didn\u2019t elaborate on what \u201cthe last\u201d might be, but North Korea has launched ballistic missiles that have the potential to strike the U.S. mainland, and it recently conducted its largest-ever underground nuclear explosion. It has also threatened to explode another nuclear bomb above the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The four-day joint naval exercises by the U.S. and South Korea, which began Saturday in waters off the South\u2019s eastern coast, were described by military officials as a clear warning to North Korea. They involve the carrier battle groups of the USS Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt and Nimitz, which include 11 U.S. Aegis ships that can track missiles, and seven South Korean naval vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seoul\u2019s military said in a statement that the exercises aim to enhance the combined U.S. and South Korean operational and aerial strike capabilities and to display \u201cstrong will and firm military readiness to defeat any provocation by North Korea with dominant force in the event of crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the U.S. Navy\u2019s 7th Fleet, it is the first time since a 2007 exercise near Guam that three U.S. carrier strike groups have operated together in the western Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis insisted on Monday that the carrier maneuvers are not extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no big message\u201d intended for North Korea or anyone else, he told reporters in an impromptu exchange in a Pentagon hallway. \u201cThis is what we normally do with allies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reminded that it had been 10 years since the last three-carrier exercise, Mattis noted that the Navy has a limited number of carriers and can\u2019t often put three in the same place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a normal operation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The military drills come amid U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s visit to Asia, which has been dominated by discussions over the North Korean nuclear threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ja accused the U.N. Security Council in Monday\u2019s letter of repeatedly \u201cturning a blind eye to the nuclear war exercises of the United States, who is hell bent on bringing a catastrophic disaster to humanity.\u201d He said the exercises raise serious concern about \u201cthe double standard\u201d of the U.N.\u2019s most powerful body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also referenced Trump\u2019s September speech to the U.N. General Assembly in which the president said that if the U.S. is \u201cforced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump tweeted soon after making the speech that Korea\u2019s leadership \u201cwon\u2019t be around much longer\u201d if it continued its provocations, a declaration that led the North\u2019s foreign minister to assert that Trump had \u201cdeclared war on our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ja said Monday the U.S. \u201cis now running amok for war exercises by introducing nuclear war equipment in and around the Korean peninsula, thereby proving that the U.S. itself is the major offender of the escalation of tension and undermining of the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ja asked Guterres to circulate the letter to the Security Council and the General Assembly, and also asked him to use his power under Article 99 of the U.N. Charter to bring to the Security Council\u2019s attention \u201cthe danger being posed by the U.S. nuclear war exercises which are clearly threats to international peace and security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Associated Press writer Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_998465370975.jpg.jpg\")