North Korea Saturday threatened to cut all dialogue with South Korea unless Seoul apologized for remarks from one of its top generals.

The new chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kim Tae-young, told parliament this week the South would strike suspected North Korean nuclear sites if the North were to attack with atomic weapons.

North Korea called the statement close to a declaration of war.

This latest dispute comes one day after the North's navy fired three ship-to-ship missiles into the waters off the peninsula's west coast.

A South Korean military official said Saturday that there are no unusual moves in the North that would indicate further missile firings.

A spokesman for South Korea's presidential office downplayed the incident, saying the launchings appeared to be part of routine military training.

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