North Korea Warns of Conflict After S. Korea's Accidental Bombing

Two South Korean jets mistakenly dropped eight air-to-surface bombs on a village near the military border with North Korea on Thursday, injuring 29 civilians in an accident the South's military said was likely caused by pilot error.

The area was near a regular training ground used by the allies near the border.

"We don't need to explain how the situation would have unfolded if the bombs had dropped further north and crossed our border," KCNA state news agency said.

"It is not at all an unreasonable imagination ... that an accidental spark could engulf the Korean peninsula and the world in a new armed conflict in response to the malicious large joint military drills by the U.S. and South Korea," KCNA said.

South Korean and U.S. militaries began annual Freedom Shield drills on Monday to run until March 20, but they suspended live-fire exercises following the bombing accident.