U.S. military exercises Seoul, Aug 13, SPA -- North Korea on Saturday criticized joint exercises involving the South Korean and U.S. militaries, saying the maneuvers were a final preparation for an attack on the communist state, AP reported. «Korean People's Army is fully ready to answer war with war at any time,» said a statement quoting an unidentified military spokesman and carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA. The South Korean-U.S. military drills were a war rehearsal aimed at «finalizing preparation for pre-emptive attacks,» the spokesman said. The U.S. military says the exercise, named Ulchi Focus Lens, is largely a computer-simulated war game. North Korea also said Saturday that high-level military talks between Seoul and Pyongyang cannot resume because of the South Korea-U.S. military exercises, a day after military officers from the two Koreas failed to agree on a date for the talks. «It is not right to discuss the issue of general-level military talks ... at the time when (South Korea) plans to hold a military war rehearsal against the dialogue partner,» KCNA said in an editorial. «This kind of action gives our military a lot to think about.» --mor 1539 Local Time 1239 GMT
