Voice of America News reports: “Washington and Seoul defended their joint military drills as crucial for maintaining security in East Asia, pushing back against Russia’s criticism of the exercises in support of North Korea.

‘Our longstanding bilateral and trilateral military exercises with the ROK and Japan are intended to maintain force readiness and preserve regional security,’ said a State Department spokesperson, using South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea (ROK).

‘We also reject disingenuous claims that the DPRK’s missile launches are merely a response to our bilateral and trilateral military exercises,’ the spokesperson, who requested anonymity, told VOA’s Korean Service on Thursday…”