North Korea condemns US, South Korea, Japan military exercises

Beijing: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister on Sunday condemned upcoming joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan as a "reckless show of strength" that would bring "bad results," state media reported.

The allies are set to stage five days of naval, air and missile-defense exercises off South Korea's Jeju Island beginning Monday, alongside a separate tabletop drill integrating US and South Korean military assets. Washington maintains about 28,500 troops in the South.

Kim Yo Jong called the drills a "dangerous idea," warning they would "inevitably bring bad results to themselves," according to a statement carried by KCNA.

Pyongyang has long denounced such joint maneuvers as rehearsals for invasion. The North views the trilateral drills as "scenarios for limited or full-scale nuclear strikes and attempts to neutralise its launch platforms," said Hong Min, senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

"The North is likely using the allied exercises as a pretext to push ahead with nuclear modernisation and conventional upgrades," he added.

Her remarks came after Kim Jong Un visited weapons research facilities last week, vowing to advance both nuclear and conventional forces.