North Korea on Tuesday accused South Korean President Park Geun-Hye of provocative war-mongering a day after Seoul launched an annual military drill with the United States.

North Korea on Tuesday accused South Korean President Park Geun-Hye of provocative war-mongering a day after Seoul launched an annual military drill with the United States.

North Korea further criticized Park’s comments at a meeting of her National Security Council that coincided with the start of the drill Monday.

At the meeting, held in an underground bunker, Park made it clear that
South Korea should not allow its guard to drop despite a recent easing of tensions with the North.

"No matter how peaceful things are, a crisis would come if we forget about war," Park said, adding that “it is very important to ensure firm security preparedness in any circumstances.”

The 10-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise is a largely computer-simulated drill that plays out the scenario of a North Korean invasion.

Pyongyang has bitterly condemned the exercise in the past, but has been muted in its criticism this year following a recent series of breakthroughs in North-South talks on cross-border projects.

Tuesday's denunciation by the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said Park's comments amounted to an "agitation for extreme confrontation" and poured "cold water" on the recent efforts at reconciliation.

"(Seoul) should clearly know that if they continue to pursue confrontation... (inter-Korea) ties will go back to the worst point, entailing uncontrollably catastrophic consequences," the committee said in a statement.

For its part, South Korea considered that “the North should stop slamming and slandering our government and show responsibility in the development of inter-Korea relations, based on trust," Seoul's unification ministry which handles cross-border affairs said in a statement.