North Korea warned South Korea and the United States again of strong "retaliatory" military acts, continuing a two-pronged tactic of pressure on Seoul and conciliatory gestures.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the North's powerful National Defense Commission (NDC) said it has already done everything it could to improve inter-Korean ties, according to the North official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday.
"What remains to be done at present is to make a final choice," the NDC said.
The NDC cited condemnation by Seoul and Washington of Pyongyang's recent test-launches of ballistic missiles and artillery shells, which the communist nation claims were part of routine military drills.
Last week, the U.N. Security Council formally criticized Pyongyang for violating U.N. resolutions which ban it from conducting
tests using ballistic missile technology.
"The U.S. and the South Korean authorities should no longer behave recklessly, daring talk about 'provocation' and 'threat' from someone," the NDC was quoted as saying by the KCNA's English-language report.
If the allies continue to do so, all North Korean troops will "keep themselves fully ready to punish all undesirable forces in the world, strikingly demonstrate its invincible might and strongly counter their moves through their practical retaliatory actions of justice," it added.
The North's warning came as its leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed Pyongyang's plan to join the Asian Games to open in September in the South Korean city of Incheon.
Kim said the North's participation in the event offers an "important occasion" for improving inter-Korean relations, the KCNA said in a Sunday report.