North Korea has condemned WMD interdiction drills being held off the coast of South Korea’s Jeju Island, calling it a U.S.-led attempt to impose a “hostile blockade” against the DPRK and a “declaration of war.”

In a statement released Thursday by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), vice foreign minister Kim Son Gyong criticized the multilateral Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) maritime exercise staged on Wednesday as a “catalyst” that escalates tensions and the risk of nuclear war.

Kim took aim at Washington in particular, which established the international nonproliferation group 20 years ago after Spanish authorities intercepted a Yemen-bound ship transporting