Kwon Jong-gun, the North Korean foreign ministry's director-general of the department of American affairs, made the remarks in a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), blasting South Korea over the joint military drill that kicked off last week. He said the military exercise clearly puts North Korea as an enemy in its concept, adding an inter-Korean contact itself will be difficult to be made unless South Korea and the US put an end to such a move or before they make a plausible excuse or an explanation in a sincere manner.

The statement came a day after Pyongyang fired two projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, the fifth such launch since July 25.