The Ministry of Unification in Seoul said on Monday that harsh criticism from the Democratic People's of Korea (DPRK) over an annual joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, which started Monday, won't be a help to inter-Korean relations at all.

?"The annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise is defensive in nature," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said in a regular briefing on Monday.

The DPRK Sunday vowed to take "resolute military measures" against the joint military exercises, the official KCNA news agency reported.

The exercises are "very dangerous military moves" and a " serious challenge" to the common wish of the whole nation to relax the tension on the Korean Peninsula and open a new phase of peaceful unification and national prosperity, the KCNA reported, citing a statement from the Korean's People Army (KPA).

As South Korea and the United States declare that the exercises are aimed at removing the DPRK's nuclear weapons and missiles and examining the practicability of the "plan on local war" against the DPRK, the DPRK will take resolute military measures to deal with these moves, the statement said.

The DPRK will also respond to "reckless provocation" with "an all-out war at any time" and counter "the nuclear and missile blackmail" with its "own nuclear deterrent" and "missile striking method," it said.

Despite the DPRK's remarks, South Korea and the U.S. went ahead with the drills, which involve some 200,000 South Korean and 12, 800 U.S. troops and run through April. Spokesman Chun said that there are no unusual movements in areas in the DPRK where South Koreans are staying, such as the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex.