PYONGYANG, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held general-level talks with the U.S.-led U.N. command on Monday and Friday in Panmunjom, urging the U.S. to cancel the upcoming joint military drills with South Korea, the official KCNA news agency said.

    The U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises to take place from March 9 to 20 will pose a great threat to the security of the DPRK, Major General Kwak Chol Hui said during a meeting with U.S. General Johnny Weida.

    Kwak strongly urged the U.S. forces to immediately cancel the exercises, saying it would be a touchstone for the Obama administration's new approach toward the DPRK.

    If the U.S. went ahead with the military games, it will prove that "the promise made by the new U.S. administration that it would seek a negotiated settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue is no more than flamboyant rhetoric," Kwak said, adding the DPRK army will "take strong countermeasures to cope with the policy taken by the new U.S. administration."

    He also insisted that it was the DPRK's right to launch a satellite, and "an entirely just measure for self-defense for protecting the security of the DPRK" to ban South Korean airliners from flying near the DPRK territory during the drills.

    The annual drills, code-named Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, are set to start in South Korea from March 9 to 20. About 26,000 U.S. and South Korea troops will take part.