Pyongyang, March 2 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) issued the following statement Thursday as the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet warmongers kicked off joint military exercises for aggression against the DPRK on Wednesday:

The largest-ever war drills will reportedly be staged by unprecedentedly huge aggressor forces including the U.S. imperialist forces present in south Korea, reinforced U.S. forces from overseas, south Korean puppet troops and forces of various vassal states. To be involved in this muscle-flexing are various type strategic assets such as striking groups of U.S. nuclear carriers Ronald Reagan and Carl Vinson, nuclear submarines, nuclear strategic bombers, stealth fighters and Aegis destroyers.

Lots of U.S. war operation groups and nuclear strike means deployed in south Korea and in its vicinity have already begun moving to the positions for invasion of the north.

The enemies openly announced that Key Resolve and Foal Eagle this year would involve rehearsals for putting into a more concrete shape the 4D operation for preemptive attack on the DPRK and, at the same time, drills under the simulated conditions of deployment of THAAD.

The above-said saber-rattling assumes ever-growing danger as it is under way after the U.S. imperialists secretly introduced at least 6 million tons of ammunition and war hardware into south Korea from the end of last year and took recently even the measure for urgent evacuation of families of U.S. forces in south Korea and those with U.S. citizenship staying there.

In view of the prevailing grave situation the General Staff of the KPA clarifies the following principled stand of the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK:

1. Now that the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces again kicked off the dangerous nuclear war drills against the DPRK at its doorstep, our army will counter them with the toughest counteractions as it had already declared.

This stand of ours clarified before the world is by no means an empty talk.

2. Should the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces fire even a single shell into the waters where the sovereignty of our Republic is exercised, the KPA will immediately launch its merciless military counter-actions.

They should not forget that our revolutionary armed forces have everything in place and are always on alert.

3. The forces of vassal countries will be targets of our strikes as they are imprudently involved in the on-going saber-rattling, toeing the U.S. imperialists' hostile policy towards the DPRK.

They have to bear in mind that those lackeys have always met a miserable fate for recklessly running wild, backed by their master.

The KPA will mercilessly foil the nuclear war racket of the aggressors with its treasured nuclear sword of justice. -0-