Military vows strong retaliation if provoked by N. Korea

South Korea vowed stern reaction to any North Korean provocation Monday as the country ratcheted up tension amid growing international pressure on its arms programs and deepening political uncertainties in the South and the United States.

"We are closely monitoring North Korea's military moves as it might misinterpret political trouble in the South and the power transition period in the US as a good opportunity to provoke," Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Jeon Ha-kyu said at a press briefing.

The statement came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week guided a massive artillery drill in the Yellow Sea that simulated striking military targets in the South's border islands. 

Image provided by Yonhap News TV shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and military officials overseeing a recent artillary drill on the North's frontline islands. (Yonhap)

The North has been escalating its propaganda against South Korea's political crisis. Seoul's opposition parties have filed an impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal. The motion will be put to a vote in the National Assembly on Friday.

The JCS strongly condemned the North's escalation of tension, noting its military began winter-season drills and that Kim made nine visits to frontline units in the past month.

During his inspection of an exercise on Thursday, in the wake of the UN Security Council's adoption of fresh sanctions, Kim said, "Nobody and nothing" could survive the North Korean military's strikes.

On Wednesday, the UNSC approved a set of new sanctions on North Korea, imposing a significant cap on Pyongyang's exports of coal and slapping other restrictions on the country in a bid to choke off major sources of hard currency for the regime bent on developing nuclear missiles. (Yonhap)