North Korea has said upcoming U.S. and South Korean military drills are a "serious challenge" to peace on the Korean peninsula, warning of "negative consequences" to exercises it framed as a major threat to its security.

"The military demonstration against the DPRK will certainly have a boomerang effect of plunging the security of the United States and the Republic of Korea into a less safe situation," Pyongyang's defense minister, No Kwang Chol, said in a statement published by North Korean state media on Monday, referring to the country by its official title, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Why It Matters

North Korea has forged ahead with an intensive military build up and weapons development, for which Western officials and experts believe Russia offered a helping hand.

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