North Korea threatened on Saturday to wage a "sacred war" over joint U.S.-South Korean military drills next week, Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK reported.
The communist state's National Defense Commission condemned the exercise as a "silent declaration of war" and said its army would "foil" it with a war ot its own style. The annual drill, Key Resolve, will start on Monday and run until March 9.
Another joint U.S.-South Korean drill, Foal Eagle, will be held from March 1 through April 30.
The North's Minju Joson newspaper said last week the drills were a "a rehearsal for war" with Pyongyang.
Last week, South Korea held live-fire military exercises near the disputed Yellow Sea border with the North. Pyongyang called the drills "premeditated military provocation" and vowed retaliation for any attacks.
The exercises took place near Yeonpyeong Island where four South Koreans were killed in a North Korean artillery attack two years ago.
