North Korea has denounced the upcoming joint military drills by tens of thousands of US and South Korean forces and warning it could respond with stronger deterrence measures, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
The 11-day exercises due to begin on Monday are a regular fixture of the summer calendar, designed to prepare the United States and South Korea to defend against the nuclear-armed North.
The joint US-South Korea 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' exercises will involve 18,000 South Korean troops alongside personnel from the 28,500-strong US contingent in the country.
Pyongyang calls them rehearsals for an invasion and earlier this week fired a ballistic missile over the Sea of Japan, signalling its opposition to the exercises.
"It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent," a spokesperson for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement early on Friday.
According to the text, carried by the state news agency KCNA on Friday, the official added that Pyongyang "will not tolerate the grave confrontational situation which is being created by the enemy states but more clearly express its stance on the enemies to cope with any threats and challenges through the responsible and decisive exercise of the right to legitimate self-defence."
The statement described the drills as aiming "to complete preparations for the substantial military confrontation with the DPRK," referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"This is tantamount to an admission that the exercises, which the US and the ROK (Republic of Korea) describe as 'annual' and 'defensive' ones, are a rehearsal for an aggressive war."
North Korea has been playing a more active role in international conflict, notably backing Russia in its war on Ukraine, with its troops gaining crucial experience on modern battlefields.
A spokesman said the drills will prepare soldiers for a potential fight against North Korean troops battle-hardened from deployment with Russian forces in Ukraine.
