North Korea has blasted South Korean defense minister Shin Won-sik's recent remarks about the North as a blatant declaration of war and a catalyst for a physical conflict.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Monday that Shin made grievously reckless comments about the “end of the North Korean regime” or the “removal of the enemy leadership” amid the simultaneous deployment of three U.S. aircraft carriers near the Korean Peninsula.

In a visit to the Air Force’s 17th Fighter Wing at Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province on January 24, Shin said that if the Kim Jong-un regime starts a war, South Korean soldiers should act as an invisible force protecting the country and destroy the enemy leadership in the shortest possible time and announce the end of the regime.

The KCNA also condemned the recent training and exercises by the South Korean military as an engagement in war madness, warning that abusive rhetoric and various military exercises could result in the complete end of the already fragile fate of South Korea.

[Photo : YONHAP News]