North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slammed South Korea's show of force against Pyongyang's attempted spy satellite launch as a "very dangerous provocation" that cannot be overlooked, the Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.

Kim also said that a spy satellite is needed to safeguard the country's sovereignty, adding that South Korea had "shown hysterical madness" over its satellite launch attempt despite having complied with international regulations by notifying of the plan.

"Activating military retaliatory power to protect (our) national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the primary mission of our armed forces as approved by our constitution and other laws," Kim said at the Academy of Defense Sciences on Tuesday to mark the agency's 60th founding anniversary, a day after it admitted the failure of its latest spy satellite launch.

Kim's remarks come a day after it attempted to launch a new rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, dubbed the Malligyong 1-1, which landed in the sea after exploding midair late Monday.

In the wake of North's spy satellite alarm, South Korea's military on Monday staged an air exercise near the inter-Korean border involving around 20 fighter jets in response to the North's announcement to Japan that it would launch a military reconnaissance satellite before June 4.

During the event, Kim also vowed to take "stern actions" in response to South Korea's "hasty decision to display force" against its satellite launch plan, according to Pyongyang's state media.

"We have to perpetuate our will and capability to stage a war so that hostile forces can't even think of using force (against us)," Kim said.