N. Korea blasts S. Korea-US military drills

North Korea lashed out at South Korea and the United States Saturday, warning that their upcoming joint military exercises would further escalate tension on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea and the U.S. plan to jointly stage major military maneuvers, called Key Resolve, from Feb. 27 to March 9, with about 200,000 South Korean and 2,100 U.S. troops participating.

Separately, the allies plan to hold the Foal Eagle joint military exercise from March 1 to April 30. The Marines of two countries will also hold a joint landing exercise in March, the largest of its kind in 23 years.

South Korea and the U.S. regularly hold military exercises to bolster their readiness against a possible North Korean invasion. The communist North has a track record of military provocations against South Korea.

Still, North Korea routinely denounces military drills in the South as rehearsals for a northward invasion.

"It is a ridiculous trick to justify their policy for escalating the confrontation, pass the buck for the deteriorated inter-Korean relations to the north, divert elsewhere the south Korean people's criticism and public discontent," said the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea which handles inter-Korean affairs.

"The moves for a war against the north brought to light the fact that the "dialogue" and "flexibility" touted by them is no more than a lie," the committee's spokesman said in a statement.

The statement was carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency. The North often releases its position on South Korea or the United States through its state media.

Tensions still persist on the divided Korean Peninsula over the North's two deadly attacks on the South in 2010. (Yonhap)

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