North Korea has threatened that the combined annual military exercises that South Korea and the U.S. will launch next month will lead to what it called “catastrophic results.”
 
The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said in a statement Wednesday that South Korean authorities should deeply consider Pyongyang's proposals on improving inter-Korean ties.
 
The statement claimed that it is needless to say that the planned drills, which still continue when the North’s strategic status has changed, will lead to unimaginably catastrophic results.
 
In Seoul, the Unification Ministry strongly condemned the North for distorting the annual exercises that are defensive in nature and for making threats by mentioning nuclear armament and preemptive attacks.
 
A ministry official said if the North wants improved inter-Korean relations and peace on the peninsula, it must stop issuing provocative words and instead take the path toward sincere denuclearization and change.