North Korea has criticized the United States for a joint military exercise with South Korea that's set to take place later this year. 

In a statement issued through the North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the North’s foreign ministry said the “19-2 Dong Maeng” drill breaches the promises made between the leaders of the North and the U.S. during their recent meeting at the DMZ. 

The spokesperson stressed the regime’s suspension of ICBM and nuclear tests is not set in stone, rather a voluntary pledge to help improve North Korea-U.S. relations, adding it's becoming a lost cause due to Washington’s unilateral disregard for its own promises.  

The 19-2 Dong Maeng is a new combined command post exercise set for August that will replace the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills. 

The allies plan to test South Korea’s initial operational capability(IOC) aimed to evaluate its readiness for the transfer of wartime operational control(OPCON) from Washington to Seoul.