North Korea's state media on Tuesday ramped up criticism against joint military drills by South Korea and the United States, calling them a "nuclear war exercise," but made no mention of the North's ballistic missile test a day earlier.

"South Korean military has increased surveillance and maintaining readiness posture in close cooperation with the U.S.," South Korea's Joint Chiefs said on Monday.

North Korea condemned combined South Korea-US military exercises that began on Monday as a “dangerous provocative act”, citing the risk of an accidental shooting sparking a physical