North Korea said on Thursday that drills by the United States and its allies have reached an “extreme red-line” and threaten to turn the peninsula into a “huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone.” The Foreign Ministry statement said Pyongyang was not interested in dialogue as long as Washington pursues hostile policies. 

“The military and political situation on the Korean peninsula and in the region has reached an extreme red-line due to the reckless military confrontational manoeuvres and hostile acts of the U.S. and its vassal forces,” an unnamed ministry spokesperson said in the statement. It cited a visit to Seoul this week by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. On Tuesday, Austin and his South Korean counterpart vowed to expand military drills and deploy more “strategic assets,” such as aircraft carriers and long-range bombers, to counter N Korea’s weapons development and prevent a war.