Pyongyang calls military exercises 'open challenge'

Joint military exercises by the United States and the Republic of Korea this week are "an open challenge" to Pyongyang's "demand" to ease tensions on the divided peninsula, a Pyongyang envoy said on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland.

So Se-pyong, ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations, also warned that a continued standoff with the US and the ROK could lead to confrontation, including a "second Korean War".

Pyongyang said on Jan 10 that it was willing to suspend nuclear tests if Washington agreed to call off annual military drills held jointly with Seoul, but Washington rejected the proposal.