Although North Korea warned it was ready for war, South Korea and the United States launched major annual military exercises on Monday.

Although North Korea warned it was ready for war, South Korea and the United States launched major annual military exercises on Monday.

"The reckless war drills targeting the army and people of the DPRK (North Korea), who are in the mourning period, amount to a grave provocation," said aNorthern foreign ministry spokesman, referring to the death of leader Kim Jong-Il.

The spokesman denounced the timing of the exercises, days after US and North Korean officials held talks in Beijing.
The North "is fully ready for both dialogue and war", he told the official news agency.

The Key Resolve exercise which began Monday is a 12-day drill largely involving computer-simulated war games, while Foal Eagle from March 1 to April 30 involves field training for air, ground and naval forces.

The US military said in a statement the North had been informed a month ago of the exercise dates and "the non-provocative nature of this training."
But the official news agency, in a separate comment earlier Monday, described the drills as "an unpardonable infringement upon the sovereignty and dignity" of the North while it is still mourning Kim.

"The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to fight a war with them," it said, warning Seoul and Washington of possible "catastrophic consequences".

The country's powerful National Defense Commission on Saturday denounced the drills as a "silent declaration of war".
The United States has based troops in the South since the 1950-53 war and the force currently numbers 28,500.