At the war confab the south Korean chief executive made a string of bellicose remarks calling for "getting combat-ready regardless of change in the south-north relations and the situation in surrounding areas" and said "it is necessary to get ready for a war to ensure peace".

The spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) in a statement Tuesday denounced the remarks which chill the hard-won atmosphere for dialogue between the north and the south and go against the trend of the times for peace as an intolerable provocation that insults the dialogue partner in defiance of the desire of all the Koreans for national reconciliation and reunification.

The chief executive cried out for enhancing war preparedness targeting the DPRK while trumpeting about dialogue and peace. This is an agitation for extreme confrontation, the statement said.

The south Korean authorities should not misjudge the sincerity and patience of the DPRK, it added.

They should clearly know that if they continue to pursue confrontation with the DPRK, the north-south ties will go back to the worst point, entailing uncontrollably catastrophic consequences, the statement warned.