The spokesperson for the UN secretary-general has urged North Korea to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the regime claimed this week that it held a military command post drill assuming a scenario of occupying South Korean territory.

In a regular briefing held at UN headquarters in New York on Friday, Stéphane Dujarric said such conduct is not in the direction desired by the UN which hopes to see eased tensions and North Korea returning to dialogue for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The North's Korean Central News Agency said Thursday that leader Kim Jong-un inspected a command post exercise of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army held from Tuesday involving the entire army in response to the South Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Shield drills. 

The North said the exercise was aimed at occupying the South’s entire territory and unveiled part of an operational plan on executing that goal in a contingency situation.