SpaceWar.com reports: “North Korea condemned an upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise Friday, saying that ‘counteraction is inevitable’ and warning that the allies would ‘pay dearly.’

The threat came one day after the United States and South Korea announced that their annual springtime Freedom Shield exercise would run from Monday through March 20, involving computer-simulated drills and on-field training.

Freedom Shield will reflect ‘realistic threats, lessons learned from recent armed conflicts and evolving challenges, including the DPRK’s military strategy, tactics and capabilities, as well as its growing partnership with Russia,’ U.S. Forces Korea spokesman Col. Ryan Donald said at a press briefing.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

While Washington and Seoul say their joint military drills are defensive in nature, Pyongyang regularly condemns them as rehearsals for an invasion…”