Seoul has rejected North Korea’s criticism that the South Korean military's current Hoguk exercise is a war rehearsal for an invasion of the North.

The South’s Unification Ministry spokeswoman Park Soo-jin said Wednesday that it is inappropriate for the North to criticize the South’s legitimate defense exercise and such threats do not help inter-Korean relations.

Earlier on Wednesday, the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said that the exercise is a war rehearsal to attack the North.