North Korea Orders Troops on War Footing

Local Editor

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his frontline troops to be on a war footing, state media says, after an exchange of fire with the South across their heavily fortified border.

The KCNA report said Kim declared a "semi-state of war" at an emergency meeting late Thursday.

It threatened action unless Seoul ends its anti-Pyongyang border broadcasts.

The North often uses fierce rhetoric when tensions rise and it has made similar declarations before.

KCNA reported that Kim had ordered that troops be "fully ready for any military operations at any time" from 17:00 Friday local time [08:30 GMT], at the emergency meeting of the central military commission.

Earlier, the North warned that it would take strong military action if the South does not end border propaganda broadcasts and dismantles the broadcast facilities "within 48 hours".

However, in a separate letter Pyongyang said it was willing to resolve the issue even though it considers the broadcasts a declaration of war, South Korea's unification ministry said.

The tensions were ratcheted up after North Korea on Thursday shelled across the border reportedly to protest against the propaganda broadcasts which restarted after a hiatus of 11 years.

In 2004, South Korea and North Korea reached an agreement to dismantle their propaganda loudspeakers at the border.

The broadcasts were part of a program of psychological warfare, according to South Korean newspaper Korea Times, to deliver outside news so that North Korean soldiers and border-area residents could hear it.

On 10 August this year, South Korea restarted broadcasting in an apparent reaction to two South Korean soldiers being injured in a landmine explosion in the demilitarized zone that was blamed on the North.

Military authorities say days later the North also restarted its broadcasting of anti-South propaganda.

The South responded with artillery fire. There were no reported casualties.

Furthermore, South Korea ordered the evacuation of residents from an area of its western border.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, because the 1950-1953 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty

Accordingly, South Korea and the US also began annual joint military exercises on Monday - they describe the drills as defensive, but North Korea calls them a rehearsal for invasion.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team