North Korea criticised a joint military exercise launched by the United States, South Korea, and Japan. According to North Korea’s KCNA news agency, Pyongyang said such drills show the relationship among the three countries has developed into “the Asian version of NATO.” The large-scale joint military drills came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang to meet the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, on June 18–19. Putin and Kim also signed a ‘NATO-like’ pact, vowing to defend each other in case of an attack by external forces. Watch