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TOKYO: North Korea has accused the United States of using the United Nations to create an “Asian version of NATO.”

A spokesman for the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Tuesday questioning why Germany has decided to join the “United Nations Command.”

The United Nations Command was the multinational military force established to support the Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first attempt at collective security pursuant to the Charter of the United Nations.

North Korea says the United Nations Command “is an illegal and lawless aggressive war tool that was fabricated by stealing the name of the United Nations in order to allow the armed forces of countries to participate in the Korean War.”

Germany’s decision to join the United Nations Military Command “is an act that destroys peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.

The North points out that at the 30th United Nations General Assembly in 1975, a resolution on the dismantling of the United Nations Command was adopted “in accordance with the unanimous will and demands of the United Nations member states wishing for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”

“The reason why the United States is already planning to revive the function of the United Nations Command is related to its plan to bring in allies, transform them into the Asian version of NATO and to deter our Republic and neighboring countries militarily.”

The statement said that “Germany’s inappropriate behavior brought the disaster of World War II to mankind in the 20th century” and joining the United Nations Command “is clearly an act that is not useful for peacekeeping on the Korean Peninsula and the region, and has a profound negative impact on the development interests of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

The statement concluded: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea believes that Germany’s joining the United Nations Command will definitely worsen the military and political situation on the Korean Peninsula and the region, and Germany will bear all the responsibility for what this entails.”