North Korea's Kim Yo Jong says US-South Korea drills to harm regional stability

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said U.S.-South Korea military drills that began this week were a "provocative and aggressive war rehearsal" that would harm regional stability, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.



The annual Freedom Shield military exercises revealed the allies' "habitual hostile policy" toward North Korea and "will further destroy regional stability," Kim said in a statement.



Kim described the drills in South Korea as involving more than 18,000 South Korean and U.S. forces and being staged "day and night across the territorial ground, sea, air, outer space and cyberspace" of North Korea.



She said the display of military force could "lead to terrible consequences that are unimaginable."



Recent global geopolitical crises and various international events demonstrate that in all military manoeuvres carried out by hostile forces, there is no distinction between defence and offense, nor between drills and actual combat, Kim said.



South Korea and the United States have said the drills, which run from March 9 to 19, were "defensive in nature" and would incorporate deterrence scenarios related to North Korea's nuclear weapons.