The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday urged South Korea and the United States to immediately stop DPRK-targeted joint military exercises.

A spokesman for the National Peace Committee of Korea described the joint military exercises in a statement as "madcap war gambles," the official news agency KCNA reported.

The drills, with huge armed forces and nuclear war equipment "strong enough to conduct an overall war," revealed the scheme of South Korea and the United States to overthrow the DPRK system, the KCNA said.

South Korean authorities claim that "the door for dialogue is open," but they are holding exercises against its dialogue partner, which is "very shameless and ridiculous behavior," the spokesman said.

"By nature, the United States and South Korean authorities are not interested in the north-south dialogue, detente and peace, but seek only confrontation and war for aggression on the DPRK," the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the army and people of the DPRK will deal "a resolute and merciless blow" to those who dare attempt to violate the dignity of the nation even in the least and overthrow the system of the DPRK.

South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual joint military drills on Monday. The 11-day joint maneuver, code-named Key Resolve/Foal Eagle, draws some 200,000 South Korean and 12,800 U.S. troops.