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SEOUL : North Korea vowed on Sunday to bolster its "self-defensive deterrence," warning a military exercise launched by South Korea and the United States could jeopardise nuclear disarmament talks.
The exercise had clouded the atmosphere of six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons programmes, the North's state newspaper Minju Joson said in a commentary.
"This may entail such serious consequences as escalating the tension between the DPRK (North Korea) and the US and scuttling the six-party talks for the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, arranged with so much effort."
The warning came as the week-long RSOI (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration) and Foal Eagle exercise began across South Korea on Sunday. The allies say the exercise is purely defensive.
But North Korea has condemned Washington for carrying out the exercise while negotiations are underway with Pyongyang as part of six-nation talks over the North's nuclear programmes.
"If the aggressors ignite a war on this land, the army and people of the DPRK will resolutely retaliate against them with merciless deadly blows," the Korean National Peace Committee said in a statement.
North Korea would bolster its "self-defensive deterrence" for defending its dignity and sovereignty, it said.
The North has used the words "self-defensive deterrence" when referring to atomic bombs since its nuclear test last October.
The exercise is "harmful to the settlement of the nuclear issue and peace of the Korean Peninsula and driving the situation to a phase of confrontation and war," it said.
The committee also warned the exercise would drive inter-Korean relations to collapse.
The exercise focuses on a mock battle aimed at preparing for the sudden arrival of US reinforcements, US officials said earlier. It also features anti-commando operations and computer war games.
As part of the exercise, the USS Ronald Reagan, a cruiser and two destroyers have joined tens of thousands of US and South Korean soldiers.
Outside a sprawling US military compound in Seoul, riot police on Sunday blocked a march by about 1,000 South Korean anti-war activists who chanted slogans.
"The exercise threatens peace on the Korean peninsula as it comes amid international efforts to denuclearise the peninsula following the February 13 six-party agreement," the protesters said in a statement.
The US has stationed tens of thousands of troops in the South since the Korean war began in June 1950 with an invasion by the North.
Currently some 29,500 US troops are stationed here to assist 680,000 South Korean forces facing up to North Korea's 1.1-million-strong military. - AFP/de
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