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."

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and the United States on Monday began their annual joint military exercises, but they paused live-fire training while Seoul investigates how two of its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a warm-up drill last week.

The South Korean military said the accident near the North Korean border occurred during training ahead of Freedom Shield, an annual U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise.

North Korea's state media on Tuesday ramped up criticism against joint military drills by South Korea and the United States, calling them a "nuclear war exercise," but made no mention of the North's ballistic missile test a day earlier.

South Korean and U.S. troops will begin their large annual joint military drills next week to enhance their readiness against North Korean threats.

North Korea launched several ballistic missiles toward the Yellow Sea on Monday afternoon, Seoul's military said, on the first day of a large-scale joint U.S-South Korea military exercise on the Peninsula.

The training site, intended to simulate raids on South Korea, is located in Koksan County, North Hwanghae Province, a South Korean lawmaker reportedly said.

North Korea fired "multiple unidentified ballistic missiles" on Monday, South Korea's military said, the same day Seoul and Washington began a major annual joint military drill known as Freedom Shield.

South Korea’s military says it has suspended the training flights of air force aircraft and all live-fire drills after two fighter jets accidentally bombed a civilian area

South Korea's suspension of some military drills after its fighter jets' accidental bombing of a civilian area may hinder its upcoming annual military training with the United States.