Pyongyang threatens retaliation over Seoul-US military drills

North Korea on Thursday threatened to retaliate against the ongoing joint military drills between the US and South Korea, terming them as an act of provocation.

Pyongyang's foreign ministry said in a statement that the North Korean army would take all necessary measures against what it claimed was an attempt by the US to provoke a nuclear war in the Korean peninsula, EFE news reported.

The drills began on Wednesday.

In response, South Korea has issued maximum alert in the region and prepared its artillery against the possibility of further aggression.

It also resumed its "psychological warfare" by reactivating for the first time in more than a decade, its loudspeakers along the border to emit messages against North Korea.