DPRK accuses UK of openly joining U.S.-South Korea war games

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday accused Britain of openly joining the U.S.-South Korea joint war games slated for next month, saying it was a "serious challenge to peace and security."

"This is a hostile act of openly joining the U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces in the moves for a new war against the DPRK," the official KCNA quoted a spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry as saying.

The spokesman slammed the United States and South Korea for pushing the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war by carrying out various forms of combined military exercises.

He said that Britain's participation in the upcoming military drills is "never to be pardoned" because Britain, which has diplomatic ties with the DPRK, is now seeking to join in moves that are against the DPRK.

Reports said Britain will send fighters to participate in the joint military drills to be conducted by South Korea and the United States from Nov. 4 to Nov. 10.

South Korea and the United States Monday kicked off the joint "Invincible Spirit 2016" exercise that will run through Saturday.

The USS Ronald Reagan, the flagship of the U.S. Carrier Strike Group Five, was deployed to South Korean waters to participate in the drills.

The joint exercise, carried out in all of the three seas around South Korea, is joined by seven U.S. warships, including the aircraft carrier and Aegis-equipped cruiser, and about 40 South Korean battleships as well as fighter jets, maritime patrol airplanes and helicopters.

Each year, South Korea and the United States conduct a number of routine joint military drills including "Key Resolve," "Foal Eagle" and "Ulchi Freedom Guardian," which they claim to be of a defensive nature.

But Pyongyang says the annual war games are designed for northward invasion. Endi