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5 December 2010
Last updated at 03:53 ET
North Korea has warned the South against "provocations", including planned military live-fire drills near the disputed maritime border.
A North Korean statement said the South was causing "extreme" tension.
It is Pyongyang's first response to South Korea's new defence minister, Kim Kwan-jin, saying Northern attacks would be met with air strikes.
He spoke following North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island that killed four people.
In a statement carried by North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, Pyongyang blamed the South's government for ratcheting up tension.
"The political situation on the Korean peninsula is reaching an uncontrollable level due to provocative, frantic moves by the puppet group," said the statement.
Continue reading the main story North Korea: Timeline 2010
26 March: South Korean warship, Cheonan, sinks, killing 46 sailors
20 May: Panel says a North Korean torpedo sank the ship; Pyongyang denies involvement
July-September: South Korea and US hold military exercises; US places more sanctions on Pyongyang
29 September: North holds rare party congress seen as part of father-to-son succession move
29 October: Troops from North and South Korea exchange fire across the land border
12 November: North Korea shows US scientist new - undeclared - uranium enrichment facility
23 November: North shells island of Yeonpyeong, killing at least four South Koreans
27 Nov-1 Dec: South Korea and US hold joint military drills
The shelling of Yeonpyeong island on 23 November killed two South Korean civilians and two soldiers, and shocked Seoul into reviewing its rules of engagement for such incidents.
The island lies south of the Northern Limit Line, the maritime border declared by UN forces at the end of the Korean War in 1953, but not recognised by Pyongyang.
The bombardment of the island came after Southern naval drills in the area.
The shelling, and the tough statements from both sides that have followed it, have stoked tensions in the region.
At a parliamentary confirmation hearing on Friday, incoming Defence Minister Kim said: "If North Korea provokes again, we will definitely use aircraft to attack North Korea."
The South has also engaged in a flurry of military preparations, including a forthcoming live-fire drill along its coast, naval manoeuvres with the US and plans for further exercises with the US.
The just-completed naval manoeuvres were planned long before the shelling of Yeonpyeong. The live-fire exercise, a routine training drill, was also scheduled before the bombardment, military officials said.
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A North Korean statement said the South was causing "extreme" tension.
It is Pyongyang's first response to South Korea's new defence minister, Kim Kwan-jin, saying Northern attacks would be met with air strikes.
He spoke following North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island that killed four people.
In a statement carried by North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, Pyongyang blamed the South's government for ratcheting up tension.
"The political situation on the Korean peninsula is reaching an uncontrollable level due to provocative, frantic moves by the puppet group," said the statement.
Continue reading the main story North Korea: Timeline 2010
26 March: South Korean warship, Cheonan, sinks, killing 46 sailors
20 May: Panel says a North Korean torpedo sank the ship; Pyongyang denies involvement
July-September: South Korea and US hold military exercises; US places more sanctions on Pyongyang
29 September: North holds rare party congress seen as part of father-to-son succession move
29 October: Troops from North and South Korea exchange fire across the land border
12 November: North Korea shows US scientist new - undeclared - uranium enrichment facility
23 November: North shells island of Yeonpyeong, killing at least four South Koreans
27 Nov-1 Dec: South Korea and US hold joint military drills
The shelling of Yeonpyeong island on 23 November killed two South Korean civilians and two soldiers, and shocked Seoul into reviewing its rules of engagement for such incidents.
The island lies south of the Northern Limit Line, the maritime border declared by UN forces at the end of the Korean War in 1953, but not recognised by Pyongyang.
The bombardment of the island came after Southern naval drills in the area.
The shelling, and the tough statements from both sides that have followed it, have stoked tensions in the region.
At a parliamentary confirmation hearing on Friday, incoming Defence Minister Kim said: "If North Korea provokes again, we will definitely use aircraft to attack North Korea."
The South has also engaged in a flurry of military preparations, including a forthcoming live-fire drill along its coast, naval manoeuvres with the US and plans for further exercises with the US.
The just-completed naval manoeuvres were planned long before the shelling of Yeonpyeong. The live-fire exercise, a routine training drill, was also scheduled before the bombardment, military officials said.
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