North Korea has strongly criticized the upcoming Freedom Shield (FS) joint military exercise, set to take place from March 10 to 20, warning that it will bring a “storm of escalating tensions” to the Korean Peninsula.
In a commentary titled “Those Who Demand Our Strongest Response Will Pay a Terrible Price,” published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 7, Pyongyang denounced the exercise, calling it “a malicious provocation that has evolved through repeated worst-case mutations.”
![Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ryan Donald, spokesperson for the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, announce the plans for the 2025 South Korea-U.S. joint exercise "Freedom Shield" (FS) during a joint briefing at the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, on March 6. [YONHAP]](https://www.koreadailyus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0306-drill.jpg)
According to KCNA, Freedom Shield has “consistently contributed to undermining the sovereignty and security interests of North Korea while exacerbating regional tensions.” The report further claimed that this year’s drill would “mobilize not only military forces but also police, government agencies, local governments, and civilians in a large-scale integrated defense exercise.”
North Korea also accused the U.S. and South Korea of “expanding existing threats in multiple ways, including experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in military training.”
Additionally, KCNA condemned the increase in the number of field training exercises incorporated into Freedom Shield, which has risen from 10 last year to 16 this year, arguing that this escalation “clearly illustrates the reckless trajectory toward war, pushing the situation to a dangerously high threshold.”
North Korea Warns of Retaliation
The commentary referenced a March 4 statement by Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, reiterating Pyongyang’s stance that if the U.S. continues to escalate military provocations, North Korea will be forced to respond in kind.
“We have already made it clear that if the United States continues to break records in its military provocations, we will have no choice but to break records in our strategic deterrence measures,” the report stated.
The article concluded with a direct warning to South Korea and the U.S., stating that “hostile nations will pay a dire price for their foolish and reckless war rehearsals, as they are effectively inviting our strongest, most justifiable, and resolute response.”
Freedom Shield: The First Major Drill Under the New U.S. Administration
This year’s Freedom Shield exercise is the first large-scale joint drill between South Korea and the U.S. since the inauguration of the second Trump administration. The exercise is expected to incorporate realistic scenarios, reflecting North Korea’s evolving military strategies, tactics, and capabilities, including assessments of Pyongyang’s growing military cooperation with Russia and other conflict zones.
North Korea has historically condemned U.S.-South Korea joint military drills, labeling them as provocations that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. However, Pyongyang’s early and aggressive response to this year’s Freedom Shield suggests that it is not only issuing a strong warning but also deliberately raising tensions ahead of the exercise.
By Mooyoung Lee [lee.mooyoung@koreadaily.com]
