North Korea has confirmed it has scrapped an armistice with 'its enemies' and says the next step is an act of "merciless" military retaliation.
The warning was made in a lengthy statement issued by the North's armed forces ministry on Wednesday.
The statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency argued that the real "warmongering" was coming from the United States and its "puppets" in South Korea.
The statement said: "They would be well advised to keep in mind that the armistice agreement is no longer valid and (North Korea) is not restrained by the North-South declaration on non-aggression.
"What is left to be done now is an action of justice and merciless retaliation of the army and people."
It added to the tide of threats that has been flowing from Pyongyang in recent days that have raised military tensions on the Korean peninsula to their highest level for years.
The armistice agreement it has nullified has been in place since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
The North had already announced last week that it would nullify the agreement and peace pacts signed with Seoul in protest over joint South Korea-US military manoeuvres that began on Monday.
Because the Korean War was concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas had always remained technically at war.
Ending the ceasefire theoretically opens the way to a resumption of hostilities, although observers have noted this is far from the first time that North Korea has announced the demise of the armistice.
The armistice was approved by the UN General Assembly, and both the United Nations and South Korea have critisised the North's unilateral withdrawal.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said: "The terms of the armistice agreement do not allow either side, unilaterally, to free themselves from it."
The North has threatened to launch nuclear strikes against the United States and South Korea in response to fresh UN sanctions adopted after the North carried out its third nuclear test last month.
While the threats have been mostly dismissed as bluster, there are strong concerns that the North will attempt some form of military provocation in the coming weeks.
Wednesday's statement by the armed forces ministry was notable for carrying the first official criticism of South Korea's new president, Park Geun-Hye, since she took office a little more than two weeks ago.
While the spokesman did not mention Park by name, he said the "frenzy" stirred up the "warmongers" in South Korea was orchestrated by the "swish of the skirt made by the owner of Chongwadae (the Blue House)."
He also slammed Park's recent comments that the North's obsession with nuclear weapons would bring about its own collapse as "utter ignorance" and an echo of the "confrontational" policy of Park's predecessor Lee Myung-Bak.
Park had campaigned on a pledge of greater engagement with North Korea, but February's nuclear test put any rapprochement on indefinite hold.
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