An official newspaper of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday called upon the whole nation to oppose war and guard peace in an effort to smash the warmongers' plot of igniting the war.

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In a commentary on Monday, the Rodong Sinmun warned that the military confrontation and tension between the north and south is more serious than anytime before.

Opposing the war and guarding the peace has become "a vital issue" to eliminate the war and defend the fate of the nation, said the newspaper.

The paper's call came as South Korea announced on Monday that it would conduct a live-fire drill on the day off Yeonpyeong Island, a Yellow Sea border island.

The commentary accused the South Korean authorities of successively holding large-scale military drills and deliberately manipulating the Yeonpyeong Island incident.

These moves have led the north-south relations to the "most serious situation," it warned, adding that under this pretext, there can neither be any dialogue and cooperation between the north and south, nor development of the north-south relations.

The commentary called upon the whole nation to drop the divergences on ideology, faith and politics, bravely oppose war and guard peace through smashing the warmongers' plot of igniting a war.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula is deteriorating after the exchange of artillery fire on Nov. 23 between South Korea and the DPRK, which killed four South Koreans.

South Korea announced on Dec. 16 that it would carry out a live-fire drill off the Yeonpyeong Island between Dec. 18 to Dec. 21. The DPRK immediately issued a stern warning, demanding South Korea cancel the drill.

Pyongyang said that if South Korea went ahead with the drill, the DPRK would "deal the second and third unpredictable self-defensive blow," which will be "deadlier than what was made on Nov. 23 in terms of the powerfulness and sphere" to protect the territorial waters of the DPRK.