North Korea is doubling down for “long-term nuclear confrontation” with the U.S. and South Korea, following the first table-top simulation drills by the allies' new nuclear deterrence group.

On Sunday, a day before the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding, Pyongyang vowed to take undefined “practical measures” after accusing Washington and Seoul of deploying nuclear-capable assets to the region and staging “nuclear drills in succession,” including simulations conducted last week by the recently launched U.S.-South Korean Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).

Calling these actions "nuclear threats and blackmail," Pyongyang warned that “the present situation ... underscores the need for the DPRK to possess (a) more strategic and fatal nuclear deterrent,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, using the acronym for the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.