Aug. 17 (UPI) — A North Korean propaganda service condemned the South’s military Tuesday for a decision to build new frigates, calling the policy “preparations for a war against the North.”
Propaganda outlet Uriminzokkiri, which targets a Korean-speaking audience outside the North, said Tuesday that the “warlike actions” of the South’s military are leading to an “incurable disease” of confrontation among a unitary Korean people.
North Korea’s criticism of South Korean defense policy comes two weeks after Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration disclosed plans to invest $3.1 billion to build new frigates.
South Korea’s defense project promotion committee approved the Ulsan-class Batch IV project, Defense World reported earlier this month.
According to DAPA, the project is to “enhance the military’s maritime operational capabilities, as well as contribute to securing up-to-date technologies and creating jobs.”
Uriminzokkiri said Tuesday that the “South Korean military is burning through taxpayers’ money to spend astronomical amounts of funds on modernized arms and steal state-of-the-art technology to speed up preparations for war against the North.”
The propaganda service also condemned incidents of sexual harassment in South Korea’s military, including the case of a female chief petty officer who died by suicide Friday, after she reported sexual abuse in the South Korean Navy.
The woman died after her supervisors declined to protect her confidentiality, according to Yonhap on Tuesday.
North Korean media did not issue a statement condemning the ongoing U.S.-South Korea exercises Tuesday, South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun reported.
A South Korean unification ministry official said that the government is monitoring North Korea during the exercises until the drills end on Aug. 26, the report said.
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong has claimed the joint training is “preliminary exercises for nuclear war.” Washington and Seoul has said the drills are for defense purposes.