U.S. DENOUNCES NORTH KOREA

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The U.S. State Department denounced claims that North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches are due to joint military drills between South Korea and the U.S. While targeting China and Russia, the denouncement also made it clear that the U.S. will hold the North accountable for damaging regional stability and violating UN Security Council resolutions.

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The State Department has dismissed claims that the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises provoked North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches. In a regular press briefing, principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel criticized some countries for parroting the false claims.

[Soundbite] Vedant Patel(Principal Deputy Spokesperson for U.S. State Dept) : "U.S. provocations were the origination of these ballistic missile launches or anything like that. That's baloney and absolutely not the case."

Last Friday, local time, Patel defined the claims as misleading information. At the UN Security Council, China and Russia recently opposed introducing additional sanctions and resolutions against Pyongyang, insisting that the U.S.' expanded military action is the cause of North Korean provocations.

[Soundbite] Anna Evstigneeva(Deputy Russian Ambassador to UN (Oct. 5)) : "It’s obvious that the North's missile launches are consequence of a short sighted confrontation military conducted by the U.S."

Patel reiterated that the North's continuing provocation is clearly a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and poses a serious threat to both regional and global security. Following the 7th Fleet Commander's remarks that U.S. carriers' deployment in the East Sea might have irked North Korea, the State Department's latest move is seen as an effort to more clearly hold Pyongyang accountable for the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.