North Korea Condemns' provocative Act 'as South Korea, US Hold Joint military drills

South Korea and the United States have launched a joint military exercise called Freedom Shield, which North Korea has condemned as a "provocative act" and warned that a "misfire" could trigger war.

"This is a dangerous provocative act that raises tensions on the Korean peninsula," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said Sunday, according to state media.

Yonhap news agency also reported that the North Korean Foreign Ministry said that the joint military exercises between the ROK and the United States will only give North Korea more reasons to take a tough response, and the United States must be vigilant about the consequences of increased security threats.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a press statement entitled "The indiscriminate use of force by the United States will lead to a worsening security crisis," criticizing the United States and the ROK for insisting on a large-scale joint military exercise despite repeated warnings from the DPRK side, which will push the touch-and-go inter-Korean situation to the limit and is an extremely dangerous provocation.

The South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise, the first of its kind since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, is a military exercise that has nothing to do with the policy ambiguity associated with the change of administration, and reflects Washington's habitual behavior of sanctions, repression and confrontation against North Korea.

The Foreign Ministry reiterated the policy of strengthening nuclear forces, saying that the DPRK will redouble its efforts to cultivate reliable capabilities accompanied by great strides in nuclear force to achieve permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

South Korea and the United States will conduct their annual "Freedom Shield" joint military exercise for 11 days on Monday.

During the joint exercise, the two countries will conduct joint outdoor maneuvers on land, sea, air, cyber and space in combination with the Command Post Exercise (CPX), which assumes a full-scale conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the ROK and the US will fully reflect the changes in strategy and tactics and combat force after the DPRK sent troops to Russia, as well as the non-traditional security threats such as drone attacks, cyber attacks and interference with the global positioning system (GPS) that the DPRK may launch.

Due to the recent impact of two South Korean KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly dropped eight MK-82 air-to-ground bombs on residential areas during the joint exercise between South Korea and the United States, the field maneuver exercise will not carry out live firing training.