South Korean and US forces are holding military exercises, which they say are purely defensive Large-scale military exercises involving American and South Korean troops have begun, prompting North Korea to threaten "all-out war".
The training drills are held every year and commanders insist they are purely defensive.
But talks between North and South Korea aimed at easing tensions between the two countries broke down recently.
Three months ago the North shelled a South Korean island, killing four people.
The exercises on land, sea and in the air involve 200,000 South Korean troops and nearly 13,000 Americans - most of whom are not based in the country.
In part it is a regular rehearsal for emergency deployments of US forces in the event of a sudden attack on South Korea.
Every year Pyongyang denounces the exercises, saying they are actually a pretext for an American invasion of the North to topple the communist government.
But this year's rhetoric is harsher: the North has threatened to turn the South's capital, Seoul, which sits less than 48km (30 miles) from the border and so well within range of artillery, into a "sea of fire".
Following last year's confrontation over a South Korean island and the sinking of one of its warships, for which the North denies responsibility, many analysts have predicted a new military provocation by the North.
These concerns were reinforced when military talks between the two Koreas broke down earlier this month.
The North has also been angered by a renewed propaganda drive from the South.
As well as activists sending leaflets criticising the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il via balloons floated over the border, it is understood the South's military has begun using the same technique - and may also be spreading news of uprisings in Arab countries.
Pyongyang calls this "psychological warfare" and has threatened to attack the sites from which balloons are launched.
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