Democratic People's Republic of Korea state media warned on Saturday that "no-one can predict the ensuing consequences" if a US carrier group goes ahead with a planned drill with the Republic of Korea (RoK) in the Yellow Sea.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) statement came days after the hardline communist regime sharply heightened regional tensions with an artillery attack that killed two marines and two civilians on a RoK border island.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington and its battle group plans four days of exercises from Sunday with a flotilla of RoK warships in a show of force meant to deter Pyongyang.
The KCNA report labelled the United States "the arch-criminal who orchestrated the recent military clash", in which RoK on Tuesday returned artillery fire at the North.
The report repeated Pyongyang's claim that it attacked in response to RoK conducting a military exercise that lobbed shells into waters that the North regime regards as its own.
The KCNA report argued that its own "counter-shelling" was "a resolute and proper retaliation against the reckless military provocation of the enemy", and argued that the US was then quick to take advantage of the clash.
"No sooner had the Yeonpyeong incident occurred than the US announced that it would stage joint naval exercises with the RoK puppet forces with nuclear-powered carrier George Washington," the report said.
It went on to warn: "If the US brings its carrier to the West Sea of Korea at last, no one can predict the ensuing consequences", using the Korean term for the Yellow Sea.
KCNA also said two civilian deaths from its artillery strike on the South were "if true... very regrettable" but also charged they had been used as "human shields" by being placed near artillery positions.
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