UPDATE 1-North Korea's Kim Yo Jong says joint US-South Korea drills to harm regional stability

The ⁠drills come ⁠a month after Kim Jong Un said at North Korea'sruling Party Congress that he would focus on ‌expanding his country's ‌nuclear arsenal.

​North Korea's Kim Yo ‌Jong, the sister ​of leader Kim Jong Un, said U.S.-South Korea military drills that began this week ‌were a "provocative and aggressive war rehearsal" that would harm regional stability, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.

The annual Freedom Shield military exercises revealed the allies' "habitual ‌hostile policy" toward North Korea and "will further destroy regional stability," Kim ‌said in a statement. Kim described the drills in South Korea as involving more than 18,000 South Korean and U.S. forces and being staged "day and night across ⁠the territorial ​ground, sea, ⁠air, outer space and cyberspace" of North Korea.

South Korea and the United States have ⁠said the drills, which run from March 9 to 19, were "defensive in ​nature" and would incorporate deterrence scenarios related to North Korea's nuclear weapons. The ⁠exercise will also serve as an opportunity to support ongoing preparations for the transfer ⁠of ​U.S. wartime operational control to South Korea, officials from both countries have said. South Korea aimed to complete the handover of military command ⁠from the U.S. before President Lee Jae Myung's term ends in 2030. The ⁠drills come ⁠a month after Kim Jong Un said at North Korea'sruling Party Congress that he would focus on ‌expanding his country's ‌nuclear arsenal.

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