North Korea Warns South Korea And US To Pay 'Very Expensive Prices' For Military Exercises To Join Next Week

South Korean soldiers while participating in joint exercises with the United States. (Twitter/@USForcesKorea)

JAKARTA - North Korea (North Korea) on Friday threatened South Korea (South Korea) and the United States (US) would pay a "very expensive" price for a joint military exercise between the two allies scheduled for next week.

Not only that, North Korea also said the exercise would soon bring "badai" which exacerbates the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

The North Korean warning comes a day after the allied military announced the annual exercise "Freedom Shield" would begin on Monday and last for 11 days, involving computer simulation training and training on the ground.

North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a comment Seoul and Washington's spring games continued to violate Pyongyang's sovereign rights and interests and exacerbated regional security.

"Freedom Shield has repeatedly experienced its worst modifications, equipped with all the malicious signs. It will soon bring a storm that exacerbates the security situation on the Korean Peninsula," KCNA said.

Citing Seoul and Washington's plans to increase the number of large-scale war games on the ground to 16 this year from 10 years earlier, Pyongyang said the enemy's "war craze" was rising sharply to a dangerous level.

"The enemy will pay a very expensive price because of their stupid and reckless war games, which require us to take fair action against sovereign countries to defend ourselves as well as the harshest threatening measures," KCNA said.

North Korea has long denounced joint allied military exercises as training for an invasion and used them as a pretext for provocation. On the other hand, Uncle Sam's country and Ginseng's country say their drills are defensive.

Last week, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned of enhanced action in response to the arrival of USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in South Korea.

He warned North Korea would strengthen the country's strategic deterrence if the US continued anti-North Korean military demonstrations.

Separately, Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, reiterated that the annual military exercise was defensive.

"North Korea has reiterated its stubborn claims, shifting errors over rising tensions whenever there is a joint South Korea-US exercise," Koo said, calling the latest exercise a defensive exercise.