By Josh Smith
SEOUL (Reuters) -&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that&nbsp;drills&nbsp;by the United States and its allies&nbsp;have&nbsp;pushed&nbsp;the&nbsp;situation&nbsp;to an "extreme&nbsp;red-line" and threaten to turn the peninsula into a "huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone."
The statement, carried by state news agency&nbsp;KCNA, said Pyongyang was not interested in dialogue as long as Washington pursues&nbsp;hostile policies.
"The military and political&nbsp;situation&nbsp;on the&nbsp;Korean peninsula and in the region has reached an extreme&nbsp;red-line due to the reckless military confrontational maneuvers and hostile acts of the&nbsp;U.S. and its vassal forces," an unnamed ministry spokesperson said in the statement.
In Washington, the White House rejected the&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean statement and reiterated a willingness to meet with&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean diplomats "at a time and place convenient for them."
"We&nbsp;have&nbsp;made clear we&nbsp;have&nbsp;no hostile intent toward the DPRK and seek serious and sustained diplomacy to address the full range of issues&nbsp;of concern to both countries and the region," said a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.
The&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean statement cited a visit to Seoul this week by&nbsp;U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. On Tuesday Austin and his South&nbsp;Korean counterpart vowed to expand military&nbsp;drills&nbsp;and deploy more "strategic assets," such as aircraft carriers and long-range bombers, to counter&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's weapons development and prevent a war.
"This is a vivid expression of the&nbsp;U.S. dangerous scenario which will result in turning the&nbsp;Korean peninsula into a huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone," the&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean statement said.
North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;will respond to any military moves by the United States, and has strong counteraction strategies, including "the most overwhelming nuclear force" if necessary, the statement added.
More than 28,500 American troops are based in South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;as a legacy of the 1950-1953&nbsp;Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
"We reject the notion that our joint exercises with partners in the region serve as any sort of provocation. These are routine exercises fully consistent with past practice," the White House statement said.
Last year,&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests, which are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions. It was also observed reopening its shuttered&nbsp;nuclear weapons test site, raising expectations of a nuclear test for the first time since 2017.
In New York, South&nbsp;Korea's foreign minister, Park Jin, met with the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday and called for the U.N.'s continued attention to&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's recent provocations and efforts to implement sanctions on the reclusive regime.
Guterres said any resumption of nuclear testing by&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;would deal a devastating blow to regional and international security, and reaffirmed support to build lasting peace on the&nbsp;Korean peninsula, according to Park's office.
Park is on a four-day trip to the United States, which will include a meeting with&nbsp;U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Friday.
On Wednesday the United States and South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;carried out a joint air drill with American B-1B heavy bombers and F-22 stealth fighters, as well as F-35 jets from both countries, according to South&nbsp;Korea's Defense Ministry.
"The combined air&nbsp;drills&nbsp;this time show the&nbsp;U.S.' will and capabilities to provide strong and credible extended deterrence against&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's nuclear and missile threats," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
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(Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Steve Holland; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Bill Berkrot and Gerry Doyle)

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North Korea says U.S. drills have pushed situation to 'extreme red-line': KCNA