Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Saturday he is concerned about escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, where he is urging "maximum" restraint ahead of scheduled military exercises.
"This is a tinderbox," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, who is traveling with the governor in North Korea. "Right now, my objective is to say -- tamp things down".
Both Koreas have traded tough talk and conducted aggressive military drills in the weeks after North Korea shelled a South Korean island last month.
The tough talk continued Friday as North Korea warned it would launch a military strike against the South if Seoul goes ahead with live-fire drills near Yeonpyeong Island during the next few days, North Korea's state-run KCNA reported.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday that the exercises would take place in the seas southwest of the island between December 18 and 21. CNN
