SEOUL North Korea on Saturday issued a statement against South Korea taking part in a U.S. missile defense system or beefing up its military might, accusing the South of putting inter-Korean ties in jeopardy.

AFP quoted **** Rodong Sinmun****, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Korean Workers Party, as noting that the South had staged large-scale joint military exercises with U.S. troops.

It had also stepped up arms buildups against its neighbor after defining the North as its "principal enemy", the paper said in an editorial.

"The South Korean authorities' reckless arms buildup pursuant to the U.S. bellicose elements' hostile policy toward the DPRK (North Korea) ... is pushing the improving North-South relations and situation on the Korean peninsula to a grave phase," it said.

"If the South Korean authorities get involved in the (U.S.) MD (missile defense system), persistently pursuing the policy of military confrontation and escalating tensions in violation of the joint declaration, they will get nothing but ruin and death."

The joint declaration, signed by South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and the North's supremo Kim Jong-Il during a historic inter-Korean summit last year in Pyongyang, calls for the two Koreas to move toward peace and reconciliation.

The daily said South Korea was also seeking to purchase new fighters, attack helicopters, destroyers and missiles under its mid-term national defense program.

"They are even going to take part in the U.S. moves for the establishment of the missile defense system targeted against the DPRK," it said.

South Korea has neither supported nor rejected the Missile Defense shield, saying that the United States should closely consult with its allies before pushing through with the controversial plan.

Inter-Korean talks have almost ground to a halt since President George W. Bush ordered a review of U.S. policy toward Pyongyang and signalled a shift to a hardline stance toward the communist state,

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who was on an Asian tour seeking support for the contentious U.S. missile defense plan, said Wednesday that the review of Washington's North Korea policy was near completion and rapprochement talks would resume thereafter.

Kim Dae-Jung said on Thursday that South Korea would seek to revive the stalled inter-Korean talks at the earliest possible date.