<Anchor> In
response to North Korea's strong backlash, the US countered that North Korea was making excuses for provocation, saying that it was just a drill that had been prepared for a long time to defend the Korean Peninsula.
Correspondent Yunsu Kim from Washington.
<Reporter>
The U.S. Department of Defense dismissed North Korea's labeling of the US-ROK joint air exercise "Vigilant Storm" as a military provocation as absurd.
'Vigilant Storm' explained that the training was aimed at defense, not to threaten North Korea.
[Patrick Ryder/DoD Spokesperson: (Vigilant Storm) is a long-planned exercise focused on enhancing interoperability between the ROK and US forces to defend South Korea.
] He criticized that being bitten by the snoring was nothing more than making excuses for the provocations it had made so far and the 7th nuclear test it is currently preparing for.
It is difficult to predict the timing of North Korea's nuclear test before the US midterm elections on the 8th, or before or after the summit of the 20 major countries to be held in Indonesia on the 15th, the US authorities explained.
He also warned that carrying out a nuclear test would come at a huge cost.
[Ned Price / US State Department Spokesperson: If North Korea violates UN Security Council resolutions and moves to a dangerous and stability-threatening stage, there will be huge costs and consequences.]
The Pentagon assessed that Russia is still requesting arms from North Korea, although it knows that North Korea has denied the rumors about an arms deal between North Korea and Russia.