Seoul, March 24 -- North Korea on Monday criticised the annual joint military drills by the United States and South Korea, calling them a "planned and provocative nuclear war rehearsal."

Pyongyang warned that it will continue to strengthen its striking power to overwhelm any threats from its enemies, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) was cited by South Korea's Yonhap.

The Disarmament and Peace Institute at North Korea's foreign ministry issued the condemnation after Seoul and Washington wrapped up their 11-day annual 'Freedom Shield exercise' on Thursday.

North Korea said the aggressive and offensive nature of this year's drills was the highest in history, according to the KCNA.

Towards the beginning of this month, North...