Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang remain as icy as ever despite Seoul’s offer of high-level talks.

Seoul proposed the talks last December to discuss pending issues and a possible reunion of families separated during the Korean War. Pyongyang reciprocated with Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s message in which he alluded to a possible acceptance of the proposal.

North Korea has yet to respond to the offer of high-level talks; instead it held a military drill on the West Coast which it said was aimed at “striking and seizing an island,” clearly in reference to South Korea’s western islands near the Northern Line Limit, the maritime border between the two countries. In 2010 North Korea’s shelling of Yeonpyeongdo, an island near the NLL, claimed the lives of four Marines and civilians and wounded more than a dozen others.

Kim led the artillery and landing exercise by the Korean People’s Army 4th Corps, which was responsible for the 2010 shelling, according to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency on Saturday.

The military exercise, which the government here said took place Friday afternoon, comes ahead of the annual joint South Korea-U.S. military exercise next month and may be taken as a routine “protest” by the North against what it considers an invasion exercise aimed at the country.

However, the weapons mobilized on Friday reveal the threatening nature of North Korea’s drill. The live-fire training involved Silkworm antiship missiles, SA-2 surface-to-air missiles and 122-mm self-propelled artillery. In an unusual move, the state television showed footage of the Silkworm missiles ― a move intended to demonstrate its weapons capability. The Chinese-made Silkworm missile has a range of up to 95 kilometers, meaning with modifications it can reach Seoul and much of the Gyeonggi Province areas. The SA-2 missiles have a range of 48 kilometers.

The location of the exercise and the military unit involved recall the 2010 shelling of Yeonpyeongdo Island when the South Korean military was caught off guard. Clearly, the latest North Korean military drill was intended to have a maximum threat effect. The presence of North Korean leader Kim revealed the bellicose nature of his regime.

With the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises beginning in early March, the momentum for inter-Korean talks has been lost, at least for the next few months. In fact, North Korea’s military exercise signals the start of a volatile period in inter-Korean relations.

Once the regular Korea-U.S. military exercises are over, there will be another chance to work at holding high-level South-North talks. Meanwhile, Pyongyang’s leaders must not further escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.