North Korea warned the South on Sunday it would stage a "merciless" retaliation against the joint South Korean-US military maneuvers planned this week.
The North Korean military added that their retaliation would be "the severest punishment no one has ever met in the world," and a "merciless counterblow to US imperialists and the Lee Myung-bak group of traitors."
The statement followed comments by South Korea's president earlier Sunday calling on the North to embrace "courageous change" toward peace.
