A North Korean propaganda outlet on Sunday criticized South Korea's recent civilian-military exercise, calling it a provocative military exercise targeting the North.

The propaganda Web site "Uriminzokkiri" carried an article slamming the Ulchi Taegeuk exercise which was launched by Seoul last month to replace its annual large-scale springtime joint military exercises with the United States.

Around 480-thousand South Korean civilians, government officials and armed service members joined the inaugural exercise from May 27th to 30th.

The propaganda site said it would be a mistake for South Korea to try to cover up its reckless military drill with deceptive, empty rhetoric and an offer for talks and humanitarianism.

It also dismissed Seoul's stance that the drill was only for defense purposes, saying that despite the desperate excuse, the latest military exercise cannot hide its provocative and confrontational nature. It claimed that the drill is a provocative military exercise explicitly targeting North Korea as the main enemy.