The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) accused on Sunday the United States of setting up a NATO-like military alliance in Asia, stressing that the US plans to topple the DPRK government drove it to develop stronger defenses.

"While blatantly holding joint military exercises with Japan and South Korea, the United States is making a full-fledged move to establish an Asia-style NATO," DPRK's Foreign Ministry considered in a statement on its website.

The ministry was referring to recent military exercises conducted by the US, South Korea, and Japan's forces.

It is noteworthy that the US also held exercises with South Korean forces - for the first time in more than four years - that witnessed a US aircraft carrier.

Pyongyang reiterated that such drills were conducted in preparation for a war aimed at overthrowing it.

The hypocrisy of the US rhetoric

The DPRK ministry highlighted that "This proves the hypocrisy of the U.S. rhetoric of 'diplomatic engagement' and 'dialogue without preconditions', while at the same time revealing again that there is no change in the U.S. ambition to overthrow our system by force."

"The reality ... makes us feel the need to make all-out efforts to develop even stronger power to be able to subdue all kinds of hostile acts by the United States," the ministry added.

This comes as the US and its Asian allies are concerned that DPRK could be preparing for its first nuclear test in five years and following a recent agreement between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden to deploy additional US weapons in the region if necessary.