North Korea has called on South Korea and the United States to stop their combined military exercises, denouncing them as a rehearsal for war and warning of consequences. 

In a statement carried by the North’s state Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) on Tuesday, a spokesperson of the North’s defense ministry said that the U.S. and South Korea have again launched large-scale joint military drills that amplify unpredictability in the region amid an armistice.

As the number of planned field training drills is more than double the number undertaken last year and some member states of the United Nations Command will participate, the North said that large-scale war drills staged by the world's biggest nuclear weapons state and more than ten satellite states can never be called “defensive.”

The defense minister then called on Seoul and Washington to halt provocative and destabilizing actions, warning that they will pay a price for their choices.

The statement added that North Korea will monitor what it called the enemies' "adventurist acts" and conduct "responsible military activities" to bring the unstable security situation under control.

South Korea and the U.S. kicked off their annual combined Freedom Shield military exercises on Monday, which will run through March 14.