South Korea denies 'provocation' charge

North Korea frequently accuses the South of incursions

South Korea has dismissed North Korean accusations that it has staged a series of military provocations.

It comes after the North's official KCNA news agency said warships from the South had entered its waters and threatened fishing boats.

The Ministry of Defence will not make a response to those reports. They are completely groundless.

South Korean foreign ministry

The agency also said the South Korean army had moved tanks into the demilitarised zone between the two countries.

North Korea frequently accuses the South of breaching their disputed maritime border, but the latest exchange happened at a particularly sensitive time.

Pyongyang is under international pressure after the United States said last month that the North had admitted to developing a nuclear weapons programme.

US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly is currently in Beijing for talks on how to deal with North Korea, China's ally.

Accusations

KCNA said South Korean forces had "committed such a military provocation as illegally infiltrating battleships deep into territorial waters of the North side in the West Sea (Yellow Sea) and threatening its peaceful fishing boats".

It added that the South had moved tanks near the two sides' border several times this month.

Relations between the North and South had been improving

"Such military provocation was openly perpetrated in broad daylight against the backdrop of the dangerous situation where a military clash between the DPRK [North Korea] and the United States may break out," KCNA said.

But the South Korean Government denied the allegations.

"The Ministry of Defence will not make a response to those reports. They are completely groundless," a ministry spokesman in Seoul said.

US warned

The accusation came as North Korea warned that it would further expand its military capacity to counter a potential attack from the US.

The official daily Rondon Sinmun said Pyongyang is "ready to strike enemies" in self-defence and repeated North Korea's call for the US to sign a "non-aggression treaty" between the two countries.

Washington has refused to enter into any further discussions with North Korea regarding its alleged weapons programme until it disarms.

The reported admittance to nuclear weapons last month has thrown into doubt a 1994 deal, under which the US provides fuel and assistance with building power stations in exchange for North Korea abandoning its nuclear ambitions.

South Korea and the US are reported to be in disagreement over the future of the deal, known as the Agreed Framework.

Both sides are meeting on Thursday to discuss whether the latest fuel shipment under the agreement - which is already heading to North Korea - should go ahead.