A day after a brief skirmish between North and South Korean warships in the western sea border, North Korea declared 2015 the year of unification, signaling a renewed commitment for a full-scale war, Seoul's defense ministry reported Tuesday.

The announcement comes just three days after an unexpected visit to Seoul of high-profile North Korean officials who proposed a reopening of senior-level security talks.

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According to the annual report released by the South Korean defense ministry, North Korea has for years been gearing up to mount a war against rival South.

Pyongyang has been doubling the number of trainees for the North Korean army and enhancing war capabilities through acquisition of rocket launchers and increased missile tests, the report explained.

The communist country has for the last year been escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula by launching a series of missiles targeting South Korean territories.

The latest incident involved a North Korean warship crossing the South Korea-controlled waters. The brief confrontation caused artillery exchanges between both countries' warships before North's boat retreated to its own side of the maritime border.

According to South Korea's defense ministry, Pyongyang has acquired 300 additional units of rocket launchers in the last two years, bringing up a total of 5,100 multiple rocket launchers in its arsenal. Many of these rockets are capable of targeting areas beyond Seoul, even as far as Gyeryong, the South's military headquarters.

Latest satellite imagery obtained by Johns Hopkins University's U.S.-Korea Institute show upgrades in North's satellite launching facilities, and over the last two months, Pyongyang has conducted at least 38 rocket motor tests.

Seoul has indicated its readiness for any eventuality of war.

South Korea's defense ministry said Seoul is boosting its security posture in key strategic areas to deter any threats provoked by the "enemy," the International Business Times quoted the ministry as saying. 

Tagsnorth-south korea relations, 2015 unification year