South Korea's president on Friday called on his military to boost it deterrence capability to thwart an attack in comments that came after North Korea threatened to strike its neighbour and fight over a contested sea boundary. Ties between the states technically still at war soured after President Lee Myung-bak took office in February.
Lee angered the North by saying that what once had been a free flow of aid would now be tied to actions his neighbour makes in getting rid of its nuclear arms programmes. "Only a strong military can thwart outsiders' provocation and protect our people's lives and safety," Lee said in an address to South Korean sailors.
"In particular, we need to build a power strong enough to fight any threats immediately from those targeting our seas," Lee was quoted as saying by the presidential Blue House. In April, North Korea said it was ready to reduce the South to ashes and fight over a contested sea border on the west coast that has been the site of deadly naval clashes.
This week, the prickly and impoverished North said South Korean and US military drills, which started on Monday and ended on Friday, spoiled the atmosphere for nuclear disarmament talks and Pyongyang would "bolster its war deterrent" in response.
Ties between the two Koreas were further chilled when a North Korean soldier last month shot and killed a South Korean housewife who was on holiday at a mountain resort in the North. The United States has about 27,000 soldiers in South Korea to support the country's 670,000 troops. North Korea positions most of its 1.2 million troops near the border with the South.