North ​Korea’s Foreign Ministry condemned a U.S. decision ‌to approve the sale of advanced air-to-air ​missiles and related equipment to ⁠South Korea, warning the move would worsen tensions on the Korean peninsula, state media KCNA said ‌on Saturday (June 13, 2026).

The Ministry’s Director-General for External Policy said in a statement ‌carried by KCNA that military ‌cooperation ⁠between Washington and Seoul was being “systematically ⁠strengthened” despite what it called international concern over rising tensions in and around the peninsula.

The official cited ​the U.S. State ‌Department’s approval of a nearly $300 million foreign military sale of advanced air-to-air missiles and related equipment to South Korea as ‌the latest example.

“U.S. arms exports are ​war exports,” the official said, adding that North Korea would continue ⁠strengthening its self-defensive deterrent to maintain the regional balance of power.

North Korea routinely criticises U.S.-South ‌Korea military cooperation as preparation for war.

It separately criticised South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung over a joint statement with European Union leaders during a visit to Europe, which described North Korea’s ‌status as a nuclear weapons state and its ​military cooperation with Russia as “illegal”, KCNA said on Saturday(June 13, 2026).

KCNA said it was ⁠a violation of North Korea’s sovereignty, South Korea ⁠had shown there could be no “peaceful coexistence” between the two Koreas ‌and that Pyongyang would continue to regard the South as a hostile ​state.