North Korea threatened to
"settle the score physically" with the United States, unless
Washington agrees to a peace treaty. Pyongyang's state-controlled KCNA issued a
memorandum from the Korean People's Army Panmunjom mission on Wednesday,
stating the United States and South Korea are using joint military drills as a
"pretext" to allow the "phantom of war" to roam on the
Korean peninsula.
Different drills are held
annually and draw a strong reaction from North Korea's media outlets, although
data analysed by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies have
suggested North Korea's responses to joint drills are more driven by the status
of U.S.-North Korea relations