North Korea prepared for 'sacred' nuclear war with South

A senior North Korean official said his country is prepared for a "sacred war of justice" with South Korea involving nuclear weapons. The country's armed forces minister, Kim Yong-Chun, said the North Korean government considered the planned South Korean military exercises to be preparation for armed warfare.

The official said there would be retaliation if the largest military exercises ever to be held by the South were to go ahead. North Korean state media reported that Yong-Chun, at a national meeting in Pyongyang, said his country was "fully prepared to launch a sacred war" because the South is purposefully provoking tensions on the Korean peninsula.

"The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK [North Korea] are getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style based on the nuclear deterrent at anytime necessary to cope with the enemies' actions deliberately pushing the situation to the brink of a war," added Yong-Chun.

The president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, promised a strong response to any attack from the North. "Now we should have a strong response to [North Korea's provocations], so that we can safeguard peace, deter aggression and prevent a war," he said.

Tensions between the two countries have been increasing dramatically since last month, when the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing four. South Korea held military exercises earlier this week in which the North had threatened "self-defensive blows" if they went ahead, but there was no retaliation from Pyongyang.