North Korea today threatened a military response to the ongoing US-South Korean war games. The North's foreign ministry said physical counter-action by its armed forces was inevitable for what it called self-defence. In a statement carried by the communist state's official news agency, Pyongyang said it had pursued dialogue but the opportunity was fading. It said the US should be wholly accountable for all the consequences to be entailed by its military provocations. The statement said North Korea is ready for both dialogue and confrontation. The comments were the latest in a series blasting the exercises. The annual drills, which began yesterday, follow a year of high tensions marked by two deadly border incidents which the South blames on its neighbour. The US and South Korea say the exercises south of the border are routine and defensive in nature, but Pyongyang calls them a rehearsal for a nuclear attack.