North Korea has condemned the recent U.S. dispatch of a B-1B strategic bomber to the Korean Peninsula for joint drills with South Korea, calling it “reckless bluffing” and a “grave provocation” that sharply escalates regional military tensions.

In a statement released via the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday, a spokesperson for the North Korean Ministry of National Defense said the DPRK will not will not tolerate even the “slightest sign of threat” from hostile forces, referencing the joint U.S.-ROK air exercise that took place earlier this week. 

Pyongyang accused Washington of normalizing the dispatch of strategic