North Korea's mission to the United Nations submitted a letter to the UN Security Council on August 25 hinting at "tough countermeasures" and "catastrophic consequences" unless the council intervened to halt the Ulchi Freedom joint US-South Korea military exercises presently taking place in the South.

The letter warned:

Waging such provocative and aggressive joint military exercises on the Korean peninsula, which has already turned into a tinderbox, is nothing short of hysterical conduct that adds fuel to the raging flames.

Acknowledging that the US-South Korea joint military exercises constitute a grave threat to the peace and security of the world, as well as those of the Korean peninsula, the DPR Korea strongly requests the UNSC to discuss the issue of the joint military exercises as an emergency agenda item", the letter stated, according to the Korea Central News Agency.

Should the UNSC ignore the request from the DPR Korea once again, it will become self-evident that the UNSC has ceased to remain a body that assumes the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, but been reduced into a marionette and a political instrument of the US

Now that the US has blatantly manifested its hostile intention towards the DPR Korea by waging aggressive joint military exercises, despite the repeated warnings from the latter against its reckless behavior, the DPR Korea has every reason to respond with tough countermeasures as an exercise of its right to self-defense and the US shall be held totally accountable for the catastrophic consequences to follow.