N Korea threatens to keep Seoul out of future talks

Displaying his anger towards the latest South Korea-USA military drills, a North Korean official has threatened to freeze future talks with Seoul and only hold them with Washington.

The director-general of the North Korean foreign ministry's Department of American Affairs, Kwon Jong-gun, made these statements in an official release to state media, according to CNN.

"It is a miscalculation if they think that the very change of the name of the exercise can alter its aggressive nature," he stated, accusing South Korea of changing the name of the drills to disguise intentions.

"Though we are to enter into a dialogue in future as the currents flow in favour of dialogue, they had better keep in mind that this dialogue would be held strictly between the DPRK and the US, not between the North and the South," he added.

This comes after Pyongyang undertook its fifth projectiles test since July 25. US President Donald Trump has downplayed the testing, outlining that no part of the Singapore agreement was being violated through the launches -- a facet which was referenced in the letter.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also wrote a three-page letter to Trump, in which he expressed his unhappiness over the military drills. He also offered a "small" apology for testing the short-range missiles, according to Trump. Kim reiterated that the testing would stop when the exercises end.

"With regard to our test for developing the conventional weapons, even the US President made a remark which in effect recognises the self-defensive rights of a sovereign state, saying that it is a small missile test which a lot of countries do," Kwon said.

( With inputs from ANI )