North Korea has threatened to mount a "physical counterattack" to a South Korean naval drill scheduled to open in the Yellow Sea later this week.

Seoul is planning to start the five-day military exercise on Thursday.

The North's military command in charge of western sea border defense sent a notification to the South blasting the drill, calling it a "military invasion" and a "reckless political provocation for the South to maintain the Northern Limit Line." The North does not recognize the legitimacy of the NLL, which was set by U.S.-led United Nations forces in 1953.

The statement was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.