"We oppose any party to take any military acts in our exclusive economic zone without permission," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement.

He said that international law of the sea says that an exclusive economic zone stretches 200 nautical miles from the coast.

The United States is sending the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to join (RoK) forces near the coasts of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the four-day drill. It is set to begin five days after the DPRK shelled a RoK island, killing four RoK civilians and wounding 15 others.

The DPRK said the RoK provoked the attack because shells from a RoK military drill landed in the DPRK waters. RoK was holding its annual Hoguk military drill when the DPRK started its shelling.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met on November 26 with DPRK Ambassador to China Chi Jae Ryong and talked with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and RoK Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan.