North Korea is still being critical of joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S., despite the annual Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercises having ended on Thursday.

North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun, said on Friday that the UFG exercises brought tension on the Korean Peninsula to an extreme. The paper added that North Korea is firm on its stance that it will end the threat of a nuclear attack by its enemies. 

It also said Seoul and Washington should pay the price for responding to Pyongyang's proposal for peace talks by “practicing for war,” and reiterated that they could expect a strong military response. 

The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland also criticized UFG in a spokesman’s statement issued on Friday. The committee urged the South Korean government to entirely stop plans for any future joint military drills in order to improve the inter-Korean relationship. 

The Combined Forces Command in Seoul ended UFG on Thursday, a day earlier than scheduled.