North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday in what was the latest display of the communist country’s military capabilities. The missile launches were reportedly in response to the joint military drills conducted in the region between the U.

North Korea condemned an upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise Friday, saying that "counteraction is inevitable" and warning that the allies would "pay dearly."

In a statement issued via state media on Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry called the Freedom Shield drills "a dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot, to the extreme point."