The statement recalled that Japan is also to take part in the south Korea-U.S. joint military exercises from July 21 which activated even the U.S. aircraft carrier.

The drills are an act of throwing a wet blanket over the efforts to create the atmosphere of dialogue with the north and mend relations with it, it charged.

The military authorities are describing the drills as naval ones for search and rescue operations but no one can understand it, the statement said, adding that the present regime hell-bent on confrontation should bear in mind that the peace on the Korean peninsula is possible only through the improvement of inter-Korean relations.

It demanded an immediate stop to the joint military exercises threatening the peace on the Korean peninsula and pushing the inter-Korean relations to a stalemate.