The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday lashed out at the United States and Japan for planning a joint naval exercise in waters close to its territory from Tuesday.

The exercise "is illegal and a serious infringement upon the sovereignty of other countries defying international law and norms of mutual relations between countries," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary.

"The US seeks to plug countries around Japan into the exercise and to isolate and blockade the DPRK," the commentary said. "The DPRK is left with no option but to increase its physical deterrent force in every way."

"The ceaseless US military maneuvers of this form clearly prove that it does not stand for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue between the DPRK and the US," it said.

"Dialogue can never go together with war exercises," said KCNA.

Source: Xinhua