North Korea has warned that US-South Korean co-operation could bring nuclear war to the region.
The warning came as the South began artillery drills amid lingering tension nearly three weeks after the North's deadly shelling of a South Korean island.
The South's naval live-fire drills are due to run until Friday at 27 sites.
The regularly-scheduled exercises are receiving special attention following a North Korean artillery attack on front-line Yeonpyeong Island that killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.
The November 23 artillery barrage, the North's first assault to target a civilian area since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, began after the North said South Korea first fired artillery toward its territorial waters. South Korea said it fired shells southwards, not towards North Korea, as part of routine exercises.
After the attack South Korea staged joint military drills with the US and also pushed ahead with more artillery exercises, despite the North's warning that they would aggravate tension.
A South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff officer tried to play down the significance of this week's drills, saying they were part of routine military exercises and would not occur near the disputed western Korean sea border where last month's attack took place.
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