North Korea says German entry into UN monitoring force is bid to create Asian NATO

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said Germany's entry into a U.S.-led U.N. border monitoring force on the Korean peninsula would raise tensions, accusing Washington of creating an Asian version of NATO, state news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday.

Germany, a close U.S. ally, on Friday became the latest member of the United Nations Command, a group that helps police the heavily fortified border between South Korea and North Korea and has committed to defend the South in the event of a war.

"The U.S. is attempting to revive the function of the U.N. Command which should have been extinct in the last century. This is aimed at turning the U.N. Command into the second, Asian version of NATO," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by KCNA.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said last week the move was evidence of Berlin's strong belief that European security was closely linked to security in the Indo-Pacific region.

The North Korean ministry said Germany's entry into the UNC "will inevitably aggravate the military and political situation on the Korean peninsula and the rest of the region", adding that Germany would be "wholly responsible" for consequences.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; editing by Andrew Heavens and Mark Heinrich)