Pyongyang on Saturday accused Seoul of provoking clashes over the disputed sea border to rally support for the ruling conservative party ahead of December’s presidential election.

Pyongyang on Saturday accused Seoul of provoking clashes over the disputed sea border to rally support for the ruling conservative party ahead of December's presidential election.

A spokesman for the North's powerful National Defence Commission claimed the South's "warmongers" were "infiltrating warships deep into the territorial waters... almost every day".

He said the South's warships had recently opened fire without prior warnings at fishing boats operating near the disputed maritime border. The North has claimed the fishing boats were from China.
The South is now seeking to justify the infiltrations and shooting incident as measures for defending the "northern limit line", he said in a statement.

"And Park Geun-Hye and other ambitious politicians are using them for stepping up the presidential campaign," the spokesman said.

The North never recognized the border line, which was drawn at the end of the Korean War to prevent naval clashes between the two Koreas.