South Korea and the U.S. plan to stage their annual joint military drills next month, the allies said Tuesday, as North Korea threatened a military response to what it called a “rehearsal for aggressive war.”

Key Resolve, a computer simulated command post exercise, will kick off on March 2 for a 12-day run, involving some 10,000 South Korean troops and 8,600 American servicemen.

The Foal Eagle field training drill, which will continue through April 24, is expected to mobilize about 200,000 South Korean soldiers and 3,700 U.S. troops, mostly from overseas, for a series of land, air, sea and special maneuvers.

The two programs are designed to ensure robust defense readiness and a strong response to provocations from across the border, officials said.

The USS Fort Worth, a 3,450-ton Freedom-class littoral combat ship, will join Key Resolve for the first time as part of its rotational deployment to the 7th Fleet.

Designed for shallow water operations, the state-of-the-art vessel boasts surface warfare mission package capabilities, carrying an MH-60R helicopter, a MQ-8 vertical takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle, a Mark 110 57-millimeter gun and 21 surface-to-surface missiles.

Five members of the U.N. Command ― Australia, Canada, Denmark, France and the U.K. ― will also participate. As part of the Neutral Supervisory Commission, Switzerland and Sweden are scheduled to observe and monitor the process in line with the armistice agreement that concluded the 1950-53 Korean War, U.S. Forces Korea said.

“It is important to maintain our high level of proficiency in key tasks while exercising different scenarios,” Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the USFK, UNC and Combined Forces Command, said in a statement.

“Exercising our multinational force is an important component of readiness and is fundamental to sustaining and strengthening the alliance.”

With North Korea fiercely opposed to the annual exercises, the mood on the peninsula will likely freeze further and the prospects for cross-border rapprochement darken, with a high possibility of the North test-firing short-range missiles or engaging in other provocations.

Last month, Pyongyang offered to place a moratorium on nuclear tests if Washington shelved its plans for the joint drills this year. The U.S. rebuffed the proposal, warning against making an “implicit threat” and reiterating calls for a sincere commitment to denuclearization.

The UNC has already informed the North’s military about the programs’ timetable and defensive nature through their mission at the border village of Panmunjeom, USFK said.

The Rodong Sinmun, a mouthpiece of the ruling Workers’ Party, dismissed the claim on Tuesday, calling the exercises a “rehearsal for aggressive war aimed at militarily killing” the country.

“The chances for dialogue or a diplomatic resolution are already gone,” it said. “The only thing left is a military response while we maximize our war deterrence.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)