PYONGYANG - The official KCNA news agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday issued a commentary accusing the recent US-ROK?(Republic of Korea)?joint exercises of escalating confrontation and being aimed at igniting a war.

The KCNA said the?US and?ROK launched large-scale anti-DPRK exercises on the five islands and surrounding waters in the West Sea of Korea on November 23, the first anniversary of the shelling incident on Yonphyong Island.

The US and ROK have already turned the area of five islands in the West Sea into "a stronghold for military showdown with the DPRK, a base for attack on it, and renewed the operation posture in this area", the commentary said.

According to ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the exercises in the Yellow Sea, simulated a real life situation where the DPRK launches an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong and infiltrate into the nearby island of Baengnyeong.

And K-9 self-propelled guns, a 4,500-ton destroyer, an artillery hunting radar and KF-16 fighter jets were mobilized for the one-day drill, said the JCS.

Army Gen. Jung Seung-jo, chairman of?ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the exercises were designed to check?ROK's forces' defense posture against the DPRK.

The inter-Korean relations, which had been marred by the deadly sinking of a?ROK's warship Seoul blamed on Pyongyang, were further soured following the Yeonpyeong shelling.

The DPRK denied the accusation and said it was?ROK that should be responsible for the escalation of the inter-Korean tensions.