SEOUL: North Korea said it had the right to launch a pre-emptive attack to counter a US-South Korean joint military training drill, its official media reported on Tuesday. South Korean and US troops began military exercises on Monday dubbed Ulchi Focus Lens that are aimed at testing command structures and communications.

The annual exercises have been held without incident since they began in 1975 and the North usually brands them as a prelude to invasion and nuclear war.

But the drills this year are being held with tensions high on the peninsula after North Korea test-fired a barrage of missiles on July 5 and reports last week it may preparing to test a nuclear weapon.

In its KCNA news agency, North Korea said the drills were