North Korea pledges 'expanded, intensified' military drills

North Korea's top army officials have said they will expand and intensify military drills to ensure their readiness for war, state media reported, ahead of a massive parade.

The pledge came at a meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un and follows last week's staging of joint air drills by South Korea and the United States.

The agenda was topped by "the issue of constantly expanding and intensifying the operation and combat drills of the (Korean People's Army) ... strictly perfecting the preparedness for war", the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The meeting of North Korea's central military commission comes as commercial satellite imagery suggests "extensive parade preparations" are underway in Pyongyang ahead of key state holidays this month.

Seoul and Washington have moved to bolster joint military drills following a year of sanctions-busting weapons tests, infuriating Pyongyang, which sees them as rehearsals for invasion.

Last week, the security allies staged joint air drills featuring strategic bombers and stealth fighters, prompting Pyongyang to warn that such exercises could "ignite an all-out showdown".

The joint exercises, their first this year, came a day after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart vowed to boost security cooperation to counter an increasingly belligerent nuclear-armed North.