North Korea: We will give a strong response to South Korea and US military maneuvers

North Korea has warned Seoul and threatened to take strong action if annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States continue in the coming weeks.

Pyongyang has said that South Korea and the United States will face heavy costs for the military maneuvers. 

"Enemy countries will be forced to pay a heavy price for their reckless military maneuvers that will lead North Korea to take self-defense measures," Pyongyang said in a statement. 

Pyongyang issued this warning two days after South Korean and US military forces announced that military exercises dubbed "Freedom Shield" would begin next Monday and continue for 11 days. 

Pyongyang has blamed the Seoul and Washington militaries for the maneuvers and stressed that if the United States continues to flex its military muscles, Pyongyang will also have no other choice but to revive its ability to respond to enemy attacks.

North Korea has long been denouncing and criticizing US and South Korean military exercises, describing them as aimed at carrying out sabotage and invasion. 

Kim Yo-Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, last week criticized the arrival of the US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and other military exercises by the country at the South Korean naval base in Busan.