North Korea has criticized South Korea's participation in joint multinational exercises, saying it runs counter to the Panmunjeom Declaration announced after the inter-Korean summit in April.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), on Sunday took an issue with Seoul's plan to take part in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) and the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercises.

The paper said that the South Korean military is planning to dispatch vessels, aircraft and 700 troops to the RIMPAC, a multinational military exercise that will involve 20 countries including the United States.

It also criticized Seoul's plan to hold the UFG exercises in August as scheduled, saying that these actions clearly run counter to the inter-Korean declaration in which the two Koreas agreed to work to ease military tensions and remove risks of war.

The paper called the RIMPAC "a product of the Cold War" that has been held with a purpose of forming a blockade around a sovereign state such as North Korea; adding dialogue and confrontation, and peace and war exercises can never go hand-in-hand.

The RIMPAC is scheduled to run from June 27 to August 2 in Hawaii, while the UFG, which brings together South Korean and U.S. forces, will take place in early August.

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