The Japan Committee for Supporting the Independent and Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement on March 9 that the U.S. description of the joint military exercises on the Korean Peninsula as "defensive" is an unjustifiable lie.

The statement went on:

The present joint military exercises are dangerous war moves not only aimed to threaten the DPRK but to invade it.

We strongly demand the U.S. and south Korean authorities stop the military maneuvers at once as they lead the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a war.

History proves that sanctions and pressure will never work on the DPRK.

The U.S. should come out for the conclusion of a peace treaty for ending the Korean War.

On the same day the Tokyo-Pyongyang Rainbow Bridge in a statement branded the U.S.-south Korea joint military maneuvers as dangerous and reckless moves bringing a nuclear war to the peninsula.

The statement went on:

The only way for ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula is dialogue, not sanctions.

The U.S. should stop its hostile policy towards the DPRK at once and come out for dialogue to conclude a peace treaty with it.

The south Korean "government" should clearly face up to the situation where a touch-and-go war crisis was created and sincerely implement the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration.

The Japanese government should opt for dialogue for improving the relations with the DPRK, not swimming against the tide of the times.