North Korea threatens ‘countermeasures’ over US-led naval drills

North Korea has denounced the ongoing Rim of the Pacific exercise in Hawaii, warning the U.S.-led multinational military drills will prompt a series of “proportional countermeasures,” according to state-run media.

A commentary published Friday by the Korean Central News Agency accused the United States and its allies of expanding military cooperation and turning the Pacific “into a battlefield permeated with the smell of gunpowder.”

KCNA — the official voice of North Korea and the ruling Workers’ Party — did not specify what countermeasures Pyongyang might take, but past actions include ballistic missile and weapons tests.

The commentary singled out the participation of the nuclear-powered USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier in the exercise, accusing Washington of escalating military tensions and preparing for war.

Rim of the Pacific — commonly called RIMPAC — is a “war rehearsal” that is “raising violent waves of aggravated tension in the Pacific,” KCNA said. Pyongyang cannot remain a “passive onlooker” as Washington and its allies fuel regional instability, according to the commentary.

KCNA warned that “an undesirable contingency may occur soon on the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the region.”

RIMPAC is the world’s largest international maritime exercise, according to U.S. Pacific Command.

Held every two years and hosted by the U.S. Pacific Fleet, this summer’s exercise began June 24 and runs through July 31. It includes forces from 30 nations with more than 30 ships, over 206 aircraft and roughly 30,000 personnel, according to the command’s June 25 press release.

U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt heave around the phone-and-distance line during the Rim of the Pacific exercise, July 8, 2026. (Aaron Haro Gonzalez/U.S. Navy)

South Korea is serving as the combined maritime component commander for this year’s exercise, the first Asian nation to hold the role, according to the South Korean navy’s June 1 press release.

Friday’s commentary criticized Seoul’s role as the component commander, accusing it of acting as Washington’s “puppet” and of intensifying its confrontational stance toward Pyongyang.

In March 2025, North Korea launched several ballistic missiles off its western coast at the start of Freedom Shield, an annual large-scale military exercise by the United States and South Korea.

It also fired three short-range ballistic missiles off its eastern coast days after U.S. and South Korean troops concluded Freedom Shield in March 2024.

PACOM did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment outside business hours on Monday.