North Korea claims US and South Korea are planning ‘war rehearsals'

North Korea has condemned joint military drills between the United States and South Korea, calling them "war rehearsals", as tensions between the two Koreas reach their highest level in decades.

Washington stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea, who take part in the annual Freedom Shield exercise, designed to prepare South Korean forces for a potential conflict with their northern adversary.

The drills constitute "an aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal," North Korean state media outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported last week.

For years, Pyongyang has been seeking to build a substantial nuclear arsenal and now benefits from Russian assistance in developing this technology, after North Korea deployed troops to fight in Russia’s Kursk region.

North Korea also claims that the U.S. and South Korea are training for "preemptive strikes" on nuclear weapons facilities.

(QG - Source : Newsweek - Picture : © Unsplash)