North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has criticized the ongoing South Korea-U.S. military exercises as evidence of an intent to provoke war.

The North’s state Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that Kim leveled the criticism during his inspection of the North’s first five-thousand-ton destroyer, the Choe Hyun, at the Nampo Shipyard the previous day.

Kim reportedly referred to the deepening military ties between South Korea and the U.S. and their “muscle-flexing” as obvious manifestations of their will to provoke war, accusing the two countries of destroying peace and security in the region.

Kim said the security environment requires the North to rapidly expand its nuclear armament, claiming that recent U.S.-South Korea exercises involved a “nuclear element.”

South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises on Monday to strengthen their combined readiness posture.