North Korea cancels talks with South due to joint military drills with U.S.: report

North Korea has cancelled upcoming Wednesday’s talks between North and South Korean officials, according to both Northern and Southern media.

The talks, which were scheduled for Wednesday, were cancelled Tuesday after U.S. and South Korean air forces executed a military drill.

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North Korea’s KCNA media called the “Max Thunder” drills a rehearsal for an invasion of the North, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News.

According to Yonhap News, the drill included around 100 warplanes.

“This exercise targeting us, which is being carried out across South Korea, is a flagrant challenge to the Panmunjom Declaration and an intentional military provocation running counter to the positive political development on the Korean Peninsula,” KCNA reported, according to Yonhap.

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The talks between the North and South were planned to take place in Panmunjom, a southern “truce” village, according to Yonhap.

The announcement casts doubts on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s meeting with U.S President Donald Trump, which is scheduled on June 12 in Singapore.

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“The United States will also have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned North Korea-U.S. summit in light of this provocative military ruckus jointly conducted with the South Korean authorities,” KCNA said.

The U.S. State Department said it didn’t receive any information from North Korea about a threat to cancel the summit between Kim and Trump, and plans are still going forward.

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“Kim Jong Un had said previously that he understands the need and the utility of the United States and the Republic of Korea continuing in its joint exercises,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters shortly after the North Korean announcement. “We will continue to go ahead and plan the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un,” she said.

*with a file from Reuters