N. Korea threatens to take 'overwhelming' military steps against S. Korea, U.S.

SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's military said Monday it will take "sustained, resolute and overwhelming" practical military measures in response to joint military drills of South Korea and the United States amid speculation that Pyongyang will likely soon carry out another nuclear test.

In a "report" carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) labeled the allies' Vigilant Storm exercise last week as an "open provocation aimed at intentionally escalating the tension."

"The recent corresponding military operations by the KPA are a clear answer of the DPRK that the more persistently the enemies' provocative military moves continue, the more thoroughly and mercilessly the KPA will counter them," the KPA said. The DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The KPA General Staff once again clarifies that it will continue to correspond with all the anti-DPRK war drills of the enemy with the sustained, resolute and overwhelming practical military measures," it added.

The allies staged a large-scale combined air exercise from Monday through Saturday involving hundreds of military aircraft, including stealth fighter jets and two B-1B supersonic bombers.

In protest, the North fired 35 missiles into the East Sea and the Yellow Sea last week alone.

The intelligence communities of South Korea and the U.S. say that the secretive Kim Jong-un regime has completed preparations for a seventh nuclear test.