In September, a week after Pyongyang fired a test missile over Japan, Trump said that he would give the allies increased access to the US weaponry.
“I am allowing Japan & South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States,” Trump tweeted on September 5.South Korea was the fourth-largest recipient of American-made arms from 2011 to 2015, according to research compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Japan and South Korea are participants in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the most expensive weapons system in world history.
The North Korean commentary comes a day before a 10-day, US-South Korea military exercise is scheduled to begin around South Korea.
The drills, described as a maritime counter special operations exercise by the US Navy’s 7th Fleet, will include the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, two guided-missile destroyers, units from the South Korean air force and navy, and the US Army and US Air Force, according to a US statement.
