Joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States continued in the Yellow Sea

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States continued in the Yellow Sea on Monday, as tensions with nearby North Korea continue to brew.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said when elected, the People's Action Party (PAP) will have enough talent to form the nucleus of next generation leaders. At the party's conference on Sunday, six young party members took to the stage to speak on what they wanted for their country. Party members have been told that they will have to work harder ahead of the next General Election (GE) as more seats are likely to be contested.

The divided peninsula -- tense at the best of times -- has been near the boiling point since Tuesday, when four people died in a North Korean artillery barrage that targeted the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. North Korea has consistently denied responsibility for the sinking of the Cheonan, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.

Lee's address came a day after South Korean and U.S. forces started joint military exercises Sunday, prompting a furious response from North Korea. The aircraft carrier USS George Washington joined South Korea's forces near the coasts of China and North Korea for the four-day drill, which the North called "no more than an attempt to find a pretext for aggression and ignite a war at any cost," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Top diplomats from the six nations -- which also include Japan, the United States and Russia -- need to meet soon to "maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and ease the tension" in the region, Beijing's special representative for the region, Wu Dawei, said Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Washington-based ANSWER Coalition called for "an end to the U.S.-South Korean provocations" and announced rallies in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, on Monday. "The United States and South Korean governments have been pursuing a policy of deliberate provocation over the past several months," targeting North Korea and China, ANSWER's website states.

In his Monday speech, South Korea's Lee said efforts to resolve the international standoff through negotiations and humanitarian assistance to the North were met with "nuclear development and the sinking of the Cheonan." He said the attack on Yeonpyeong Island would have been unlawful even in wartime, adding, "I cannot but be angered at their cruelty."

The violence has sparked anger and political turmoil in South Korea. The country's defense minister, Kim Tae-young, resigned after the exchange of fire. Veterans of the South Korean military protested over the weekend on the streets of Seoul, stating they were angry that their country's government had not done enough to respond to the North's shelling.

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