North Korea criticised South Korea's "warmonger" military for a major firing exercise set to start later Thursday, saying the drill is aggressive in nature.
The one-day exercise, involving jet fighters, tanks, self-propelled guns and 800 soldiers, will be held at Pocheon, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the mainland border.
South Korea's navy Wednesday also began a firing drill off the east coast.
Tensions have been high since the North shelled an island near the contested western sea border one month ago in response to a live-fire drill there by the South. The bombardment killed four people including civilians.
Seoul staged a repeat drill on the same island on Monday but the North did not go through with threats to hit back.
"These warmongers said they would have joint live-fire drills including F-15K (aircraft), tanks and cannons at one of the training sites in Pocheon," the North's official news agency said early Thursday.
In a relatively mildly worded commentary, it described the four-day naval drill as "fanatical drills for invasion of North Korea" and accused Seoul of trying to disguise the "aggressive characteristics" of the exercises.
The South says its exercises are routine and defensive in nature, while the North calls them a rehearsal for invasion.
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