North Korea has said its relations with South Korea had been driven into a “catastrophic” phase again, warning the South’s scattering of anti-Pyongyang leaflets could spark major war.
The statement on Saturday came hours after Pyongyang’s foreign ministry said the North would bolster its “war deterrent”, accusing the US of deliberately escalating tension through ongoing joint military drills with the South.
Earlier, the North’s military condemned the South’s seizure of a North Korean fishing boat near the disputed sea boundary as a “grave provocation” and threatened to retaliate.
South Korea handed back the boat which was captured with three sailors aboard near the disputed Yellow Sea border late Thursday.
