North Korea vows to take action over U.S.-South Korea war games

North Korea's military has vowed to take "sustained, resolute and overwhelming" measures in response to the joint US-South Korean military air exercises.

The Korean People's Army (KPA) general staff alleged the joint drills were "in fact, an open provocation aimed at intentionally escalating the tension in the region and a dangerous war drill of very high aggressive nature directly targeting" North Korea.

"The serious situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula due to the reckless military hysteria of the U.S. and South Korea is now moving toward the more unstable confrontation," an English-language statement carried by state news agency KCNA on Monday read.

The North Korean military conducted its own drills to simulate attacks on air bases and aircraft and "smash the enemies' persistent war hysteria," the KPA said.

It confirmed it fired dozens of missiles of different types, as well as "important test-fire of ballistic missile to verify the movement reliability of a special functional warhead paralyzing the operation command system of the enemy."

A drill involving around 500 fighters, where two tactical ballistic missiles and two super-large multiple launch missiles were fired, also took place, according to the report.

"The more persistently the enemies' provocative military moves continue, the more thoroughly and mercilessly the KPA will counter them," the report said.

The joint US-South Korea drills ended on Saturday after six days.

North Korea has been testing missiles at an unusually high frequency

UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range.

Despite international criticism, North Korea has been carrying out missile tests at an unusually high frequency since the end of September, including what South Korea believes to be an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of several thousand kilometres and capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Observers fear that Pyongyang's first nuclear test in years is imminent.

The latest activity is seen in South Korea as a reaction to the largest air exercise to be conducted by South Korean and US forces in several years, which took place from Monday to Saturday.

North Korea has accused both countries of "reckless" military provocation and threatened countermeasures.

The government in Pyongyang has said in its own statements that its recent tests were intended to simulate the firing of tactical nuclear weapons at South Korean airfields.

Meanwhile the US, Japan and South Korea representatives discussed North Korea's "recent escalatory and dangerous actions" in a phone call.

Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyundong and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo "jointly condemned [North Korea's] numerous ballistic missile launches, including a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile and the reckless launch of a missile that landed near the [South Korean] coastline," a US Department of State readout of the call said.

Sherman "reaffirmed the ironclad U.S. commitments to the defense of [South Korea] and Japan and stressed the need for the international community to stand together in holding the [North Korea] accountable for its continued and brazen violations of multiple UN Security Council resolutions," the readout said.