North Korean news media say soldiers and civilians have rallied in several locations again to condemn the leadership in neighboring South Korea.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said the rallies took place Wednesday in South Hwanghae and Kangwon provinces, and in Kaesong city near the border with South Korea. It said participants condemned South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his aides as traitors.

The rallies took place two days after a reported 100,000-person protest in the capital, Pyongyang. Demonstrations are rare in the communist country and recent rallies apparently were organized by government and military officials.

Tensions between the two Koreas have been high for more than a year, culminating last year after North Korea torpedoed a South Korean ship in March and went on to shell a border island in November. Fifty South Koreans were killed in the two attacks.

North Korea earlier this year indicated it is ready to return to six-party talks on its nuclear disarmament, but South Korea and the United States demanded evidence that Pyongyang's intentions are serious.

In recent weeks, North Korea has been hardening its rhetoric against the South.