DPRK warns of 'toughest measures' against U.S.-ROK joint annual military drill   

朝鲜谴责韩美联合军演 威胁发起“火的洗礼”

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday warned of "toughest measures" to retaliate against military exercises jointly conducted by the United States and the Republic of Korea starting from March 2, saying the DPRK "will never remain a passive onlooker" to the drills.

The measures will include "all the ground, sea, underwater, air and cyber striking means," according to a statement issued by an unnamed spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army and released by the KCNA, the official news agency of DPRK.

"Key Resolve and Foal Eagle which will last till April 24 are dangerous nuclear war drills for invading the DPRK as they are aimed at swiftly hurling and forward-deploying the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in contingency on the Korean Peninsula," said the statement. "Those drills are the most undisguised infringement upon the DPRK's sovereignty and dignity and a grave military provocation to it for which they can never excuse."

The Korean Peninsula situation "is again inching close to the brink of a war," it added.

The statement also stressed that Pyongyang will launch a cyber war against the United States and its allies if they attempt to bring down the DPRK through cyber attacks.

ROK and the United States will as planned launch their joint annual war games "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle" from Monday despite strong opposition from the DPRK.

The "Key Resolve" command post exercise will be held from March 2 to March 13, with about 10,000 South Korean troops and 8, 600 U.S. forces mobilized, including 6,750 American soldiers from overseas. The "Foal Eagle" field training exercise will be conducted from March 2 to April 24, with about 200,000 South Korean troops and 3,700 American soldiers involved, including 3, 500 U.S. forces from overseas.

ROK and the United States claim they are annually-held drills of "defensive" nature to ensure defense readiness of the combined forces, but the DPRK said it is simply "crafty sophism to conceal their reckless preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK."