N. KOREA’S HARSH REMARKS ‘REGRETFUL’

[Anchor Lead]

The presidential office has expressed regret over Kim Jong-un's harsh rhetoric. Seoul says it's always ready to confront any provocations. Concerns are rising that North Korea may stage provocations when South Korea and the U.S. hold joint large-scale military drills next month.

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The Yoon administration had previously refrained from immediately responding to North Korea's harsh rhetoric. This Thursday afternoon the national security office expressed regret.

[Soundbite] Kang In-sun(Presidential Spokesperson) : "It's highly regrettable that the President's name was mentioned and intimidating remarks addressed to our gov’t."

Seoul stressed its combat readiness that can respond to any provocations from the North in a strong and efficient way. The South Korean military says Kim Jong-un's threats are nothing out of the ordinary, but also added that the North's nuclear and missile threats keep intensifying. The military says it's important to beef up ROK-U.S. combined defense by enhancing the executive ability of Washington's extended deterrence and bolster the three-axis system to strengthen deterrence and response capabilities. The South Korean and U.S. military authorities plan to hold 11 total combined field exercises this year beginning in August. They include advanced combat training for brigades. Now, large-scale field training, which was suspended after 2018, will be restored and expanded to confront Pyongyang's provocations. The goal of the joint exercises is to amp up defense against North Korea's threat. However, it might also backfire by allowing Pyongyang to use it as reason to launch short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

[Soundbite] Hong Min(Korea Institute for Nat’l Unification) : "It's the first time that N. Korean leader made concrete remarks regarding his policies on S. Korea and U.S. The N. Korean gov’t, party and military are highly likely to make aggressive remarks towards S. Korea and U.S. in the future."

Kim Jong-un's harsh rhetoric in his latest speech indicates that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future.