North Korea issued a warning after the United States, South Korea and Japan established a secretariat to bolster cooperation, promising that trilateral security cooperation would warrant a more "retaliatory response," according to the Korean Central News agency (KCNA).
Pyongyang claimed that the US "attempted to seize control" by creating a military block that evolved into a "nuclear alliance," promising strong retaliation and saying that "the era of trilateral cooperation is a grim era with no future." North Korea also claimed that the decision to form the partnership caused the three leaders to lose all public support.
A South Korean Unification Ministry official, cited by Yonhap News Agency, defended the trilateral cooperation, saying it was meant to defend the universal values of freedom, peace and human rights as well as safeguard international order, calling North Korea's attempts to undermine this initiative "shameless."
