SEOUL -- South Korea's Marine Corps announced Sunday they will hold multiple combined exercises with U.S. marines next month.
   
The South Korean marines said they will stage four exercises together with the U.S. forces in April to hone their capabilities in carrying out landing and tactical operations and in maneuvering their mechanized units.
   
South Korean officials also said U.S. marines training in the country will be invited to take part in tactical discussions at front-line South Korean units to prepare for possible North Korean provocations.
   
With North Korea having ratcheted up confrontational rhetoric in recent weeks, the South Korean Marine Corps said they will try to maintain a high-level of battle readiness in April.
   
In the first week of the month, the marines will check up on their units' peacetime and wartime readiness. Through April, marine forces stationed on border islands in the Yellow Sea will conduct aerial and naval firing drills at random times and locations.
   
North Korea said Saturday inter-Korean relations have entered a state of war and all cross-border issues will be dealt with accordingly. A day earlier, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un put strategic rocket units on standby and threatened to strike targets in the South and in the United States. (Yonhap News)