North Korea's newly appointed defense minister, Kim Song-gi, has called the upcoming joint military drills to be held by South Korea, Japan and the United States a provocation, state media KCNA reported on Monday.
Kim also vowed to take "strong and reflective countermeasures" if the US and its allies sought a new military confrontation, in a statement carried by KCNA.
South Korea, Japan and the United States are set to conduct the annual defensive "Freedom Edge" drills from September 9 to 11. They will be held in international waters to the south and east of the South Korean southern island of Jeju, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said last week.
The trilateral exercise comes after US President Donald Trump scaled back a major joint exercise with South Korea last month.
This is a developing story.