PYONGYANG, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday slammed the annual U.S.-South Korea joint Key Resolve/Foal Eagle military exercises for raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

　　"Whenever there mounted an atmosphere for detente and reunification on the peninsula, the U.S. warlike forces resorted to undisguised moves to vitiate it and fabricated shocking incidents, driving the situation to an extreme pitch of tension," a signed article carried by the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

　　This "one-sided hard-line policy" toward the DPRK was contradictory to the spirit of the six-party talks and aimed at pushing the situation on the peninsula to the phase of confrontation, it said.

　　The U.S. was using the "missile threats" from the DPRK as a pretext for mounting a military attack on the country, it added.

　　The article urged the U.S. to drop its hostile policy toward the DPRK and fulfill its responsibilities and commitments for the settlement of the issue of the peninsula.

　　South Korea and the U.S. have held the war games simultaneously since 2002.