North Korea will consider any pre-emptive strike that the South takes against its nuclear facilities as a declaration of war, its state media said Sunday.
The North was responding to recent remarks by the South Korean defense minister.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said last week that his country could launch a pre-emptive strike on Pyongyang's nuclear facilities if it confirmed that the communist nation was preparing a nuclear attack.
The minister said that his country would have no choice but to strike first in such a situation.
On Sunday, the North Korean military angrily lashed out, saying the "reckless" remarks were an indication that its neighbor was not serious about improving inter-Korean relations.
"Our revolutionary armed forces will regard the scenario for 'pre-emptive strike' which the south Korean puppet authorities adopted as a 'state policy' as an open declaration of war," a North Korean military spokesman was quoted as saying by North Korea's official news agency.
The two countries have technically remained in a state of war since the Korean War ended in 1953, although relations had warmed somewhat in the last few years. The Korean conflict ended in a truce, but no formal peace treaty was ever signed.
But rapprochement talks between the two sides hit a wall after conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008 with a tough stance toward the North.
Tensions rose further after North Korea abandoned the six-party talks last April, declaring them "dead", in anger over international criticism of its nuclear and missile tests.
The six-party talks, which bring together the U.S., North and South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, aim to negotiate a deal for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid.
The North was responding to recent remarks by the South Korean defense minister.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said last week that his country could launch a pre-emptive strike on Pyongyang's nuclear facilities if it confirmed that the communist nation was preparing a nuclear attack.
The minister said that his country would have no choice but to strike first in such a situation.
On Sunday, the North Korean military angrily lashed out, saying the "reckless" remarks were an indication that its neighbor was not serious about improving inter-Korean relations.
"Our revolutionary armed forces will regard the scenario for 'pre-emptive strike' which the south Korean puppet authorities adopted as a 'state policy' as an open declaration of war," a North Korean military spokesman was quoted as saying by North Korea's official news agency.
The two countries have technically remained in a state of war since the Korean War ended in 1953, although relations had warmed somewhat in the last few years. The Korean conflict ended in a truce, but no formal peace treaty was ever signed.
But rapprochement talks between the two sides hit a wall after conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008 with a tough stance toward the North.
Tensions rose further after North Korea abandoned the six-party talks last April, declaring them "dead", in anger over international criticism of its nuclear and missile tests.
The six-party talks, which bring together the U.S., North and South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, aim to negotiate a deal for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid.
