The North Korean Embassy to China called a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, relaying the regime’s strong opposition to the ongoing joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.
 
Park Myong-ho, minister of the North Korean Embassy in China, said the North will not tolerate the joint exercises by the “hostile forces”, which he claimed are aimed at preemptive strikes against the North. He said the North will realize peace and stability on its own strengths.
 
He also expressed opposition to the scheduled deployment of U.S. THAAD anti-missile battery in South Korea, saying it is destroying the strategic balance of powers in East Asia.
 
Regarding the suspicion that the North is behind the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam, the North Korean diplomat dismissed it as a politically motivated ploy.
 
The North opened the press conference to a limited number of media outlets from the U.S., Japan and China, banning journalists from other countries, particularly South Korea. 

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