People gather at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, October 12, 2020 (AFP)

The US has been turning the Korean Peninsula into a military base and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has failed to act, according to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The spokesperson argued, as reported by KCNA, "The reality goes to clearly prove that the US and South Korea are the arch criminals deliberately disrupting the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region," adding that "this being a hard fact, the UNSC is groundlessly pulling up the DPRK, which has maintained patience and self-control to defuse the tension in the Korean peninsula, and is showing no expression of concern, far from deterring the US seeking to turn the Korean peninsula into a theatre of war exercises and a military base."

The MFA, through its spokesperson, warned of the UNSC's behavior wherein it only tables the "just right to self-defense of a sovereign state" solely when it is "in favor of the US" thus making the organization "oblivious of its main principle for justice and impartiality."

"The UNSC, regarding the immoderate moves of the US and South Korea aggravating the regional situation as a fait accompli without discerning between right and wrong, has taken issue with the DPRK's exercise of its just and legitimate right to self-defence to deter such moves," the spokesperson stated.

The spokesperson added that this is an "open expression of ignorance" as well as an "infringement upon the sovereignty of the DPRK."

Furthermore, the UNSC's behavior, the spokesperson explained, is considered " a hostile act" which will inevitably result in "due counteraction" according to the spokesperson.

In reference to the US-South Korean plan to hold 20 joint military exercises throughout 2023, the DPRK MFA's spokesperson noted that the two countries have put their "scale and scope" on the highest level of mobile tactical exercises ever held.

These joint military execises predict, the spokesperson said, that the situation in the Korean peninsula as well as the region, will once again be "plunged into the grave vortex of escalating tension."

South Korean defense paper dubs DPRK 'enemy', again

South Korea referred to its neighbor DPRK as its "enemy" in a defense paper on Thursday for the first time in six years, signaling a further hardening of Seoul's stance toward Pyongyang.

Since the 1950-53 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the two countries have remained officially at war.

As South Korea weaves closer ties with the US, the DPRK's leader declared last year that his country is an "irreversible" nuclear power, conducting weapon tests nearly every month, including the launch of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Adding insult to injury, Seoul's new conservative administration has increased joint drills with Washington, not to mention referring to Pyongyang as the South's "enemy" in a new defense white paper.

The DPRK "designated us as an 'undoubted enemy'" in a Presidential speech on December 2022, the paper formally disclosed. "As a result, the North Korean dictatorship and military, which are the major agents of the actions, are our adversaries," it added.

It was suspended for a few years until it reappeared in 2010. It was dropped once more under Seoul's former president Moon Jae In who advocated for dialogue with Pyongyang.

South Korea's current President, Yoon Suk Yeol, took over from Moon in May last year, vowing to get tough on DPRK.