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 said a U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise could "ignite a war" and called for the rapid expansion of Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, dismisses South Korean president’s latest outreach as hypocrisy

North Korea is stepping up criticism of South Korea's new President Lee Jae Myung as he prepares for his first summit with U.S President Donald Trump, calling Lee's efforts to engage with Pyongyang a "pipedream".

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.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister repeated her dismissal of Seoul's outreach efforts, saying that South Korea "cannot be a diplomatic partner."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un demands nuclear buildup after calling joint U.S.-South Korea military drills an expression of will to "provoke war."

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung vowed on Friday to "respect" North Korea's political system and build "military trust", a day after Pyongyang said it had no interest in improving relations with Seoul.