North Korea has decided on what it calls important practical steps for offensive use of the country's deterrent capabilities.

The Sunday-edition of the Korean Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reports the party's Central Military Commission has held an enlarged meeting attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The paper says the direction and steps for military activities were discussed.

It reports Pyongyang's assessment that "the war provocations of the United States and South Korea are reaching the red line."

It also says the meeting adopted important practical steps for making more effective, powerful and offensive use of the war deterrent of the country, in coping with what it perceives as provocations. It does not explain what Pyongyang meant by "offensive use of its war deterrent" or "important practical steps."

South Korea's intelligence agency said on Tuesday that the North may conduct a large-scale military exercise that could include its nuclear arsenal from later this month to early April. It also said the exercise may include the country's first-ever launch of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. ICBMs can be launched swiftly when they use solid fuel instead of conventional liquid fuel.

The US and South Korean militaries are scheduled to start a regular joint exercise on Monday.

Pyongyang's decision is raising concerns over the possibility of a further escalation of military provocations by the North.