SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un condemned South Korean-U.S. military drills and vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces to counter rivals, state media said Tuesday, as he inspected his most advanced warship being fitted with nuclear-capable systems.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for rapid expansion of nuclear buildup after US and South Korea joint military drills. According to Reuters, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country needed to rapidly expand its nuclear armament

Pyongyang has long denounced the allies’ joint drills as invasion rehearsals and Kim has often used them to justify his own military displays and testing activities aimed at expanding his nuclear weapons programme.