North Korea has warned the South against "provocations", including planned military live-fire drills near the disputed maritime border.
A North Korean statement said the South was causing "extreme" tension.
It is Pyongyang's first response to South Korea's new defence minister, Kim Kwan-jin, saying Northern attacks would be met with air strikes.
He spoke following North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island that killed four people.
In a statement carried by North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, Pyongyang blamed the South's government for ratcheting up tension.
"The political situation on the Korean peninsula is reaching an uncontrollable level due to provocative, frantic moves by the puppet group," said the statement.
The shelling of Yeonpyeong island on 23 November killed two South Korean civilians and two soldiers, and shocked Seoul into reviewing its rules of engagement for such incidents. BBC News
