The North Korean foreign ministry demanded that the United Nations immediately halt all combined military drills between the United States of America and South Korea. They claimed they are raising tensions that could threaten the security of the Korean peninsula.

The drills and rhetoric from the allies are "irresponsibly raising the level of confrontation," Kim Son Gyong, vice foreign minister for international organizations, said in a statement by state news agency KCNA on Sunday, March 5.

Officials from both countries announced Friday that the United States and South Korea would be conducting more than 10 days' worth of large-scale military exercises in march, including amphibious landings.

The U.S., South Korea, and Japan claim the exercises are in self-defense and necessary to counter rising threats from North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. These are prohibited by U.N Security Council resolutions.

North Korea on Saturday blamed the United States for what it said was the collapse of international arms control systems and said Pyongyang's nuclear weapons were a just response to ensure the balance of power in the Korean peninsula.

On Friday, the allies conducted a joint air drill with an American long-range bomber and a South Korean fighter plane. They have also been conducting weeks of exercises for special troops.

"The UN and the international community will have to strongly urge the U.S. and South Korea to halt their provocative remarks and joint military exercises immediately," Kim said.

It is regrettable that the U.N. has been consistently silent on the exercises, which have a "clear aggressive nature," he said.

Last month Kim issued a statement saying UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been "extremely unfair, unbalanced" on North Korea's missile tests.

North Korea