A soldier aims his gun during a drill for the 11-day Freedom Shield exercise in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, March 19. Yonhap

North Korea on Friday threatened to use the "deadliest military means" against joint annual military drills between South Korea and the United States.

North Korea's defense ministry issued the threat in an article published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a day after the allies wrapped up the 11-day Freedom Shield exercise, which aimed to bolster joint defense capabilities against North Korean military threats.

The ministry described the exercise as "military provocations," citing drills aimed at destroying secret underground tunnel networks and removing nuclear weapons.

"This proves that the joint military exercises ... are no more than a rehearsal of war of aggression aimed at invading and occupying the DPRK from A to Z," the ministry said. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The country's law stipulates "what means and methods should be used in contingency to remove hostile forces threatening the existence of our state," the article said, adding it is the armed forces' mission to strictly implement the law.

"All options for containing the U.S. and the ROK and for eliminating the source of provocation" are under consideration, including "the use of the most destructive and deadly military means," if necessary, it said, referring to South Korea as the Republic of Korea.

The defense ministry accused the allies of being seized with "the daydream that they can jeopardize the sovereignty and security of a nuclear weapons state," warning it could "undoubtedly bring the gravest consequences they do not want."

"The Ministry of National Defence strongly warns the U.S. and the ROK military to stop at once the irresponsible and dangerous military acts," the article said, warning about "the catastrophic result to be entailed by the adventuristic saber-rattling of the hostile forces."

The latest Freedom Shield included a joint anti-weapons of mass destruction drill in Paju, north of Seoul, on March 12, aimed at neutralizing nuclear, chemical, biological and radioactive weapons, as well as a joint underground drill Monday designed to prepare for military operations at underground facilities. (Yonhap)