A South Korean marine patrols on Yeonpyeong island November 26, 2010. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday the South and the United States were pushing the peninsula to “the brink of war” with their plan to conduct large-scale military drills, days after the rival Koreas exchanged artillery fire.

“The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against the (North),” the North’s official KCNA news agency said.