ROK soldiers attend an anti-terrorism drill at Daegu airport in Daegu, about 300 km (189 miles) southeast of Seoul, August 17, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday decried the ongoing annual US- Republic of Korea (ROK)military drills, describing them as "extremely provocative and aggressive."

In a statement denouncing the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint exercises, a spokesman from the DPRK Foreign Ministry was quoted by the KCNA official news agency as saying that the drills are maneuvers for a nuclear war against the DPRK and exposed Washington and Seoul's "invariable hostile aim to stifle it by force of arms."

The statement said it is "preposterous" for the US to urge the DPRK to refrain from bolstering its nuclear deterrent. Moreover, "it is self-evident that the DPRK should bolster such deterrent for self-defence both in quality and quantity to cope with this situation," the statement added.

The statement followed a request issued by the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on August7 that urged the US and ROK to cancel the August 16-26 drills.