North Korea Criticizes a Possible ‘Asian NATO’

North Korea criticized the recent agreement between the United States, South Korea and Japan to strengthen military cooperation as a means of fulfilling a U.S. plan to create a NATO-like military alliance in the region.

A spokesman for North Korea’s foreign ministry said the same about questions raised by news agencies, as reported on Sunday. “The facts clearly show that the real purpose of the U.S. spreading the rumor of ‘threat from North Korea’ is to provide an excuse to obtain military supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region,” the spokesman said. “The current situation calls even more urgently for strengthening national defenses and actively responding to the rapidly deteriorating security environment,” the spokesman added.

Last week, the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Japan met on the sidelines of the NATO summit and agreed to explore means to further strengthen “extended deterrence” against North Korea.