North Korea has stepped up its bellicose language, saying on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea. Seoul and its ally the United States have played down the statement as mere tough talk, but acknowledge the gravity of their statements and actions, and that it warranted attention, Reuters reported.
"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency said.
Tensions have been high since the North's leader Kim Jong-un ordered a third nuclear weapons test in February. This breached U.N. sanctions and even ignored warnings from its major ally, China. They have also threatened to close a border industrial zone, the last remaining example of inter-Korean cooperation which gives them $2 billion in trade a year, news reports said.
Some U.S. analysts argue the bluster demonstrated by Kim is meant to show that he is the "man in charge," as this sort of belligerent language was commonplace with his father during his reign too. Despite its increasingly dangerous threats, military analysts envision Pyongyang would risk a near-certain defeat if it chose to re-starting full-scale war. CBS News reported that a senior member of President Obama's administration had played down any prospect of actual hostilities saying, "North Korea is in a mindset of war, but North Korea is not going to war," the official told the TV station.
Kim signed an order on Friday to put the North's missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula. U.S. officials described the flight as a diplomatic sortie aimed at reassuring allies South Korea and another ally, Japan. They also continue to prod Pyongyang back to the nuclear talks.
"North Korea's statement today ... is not a new threat but is the continuation of provocative threats," South Korea's Unification Ministry said in a statement..
The North has been threatening to attack the South and U.S. military bases almost on a daily basis since the beginning of March, when U.S. and South Korean armies continued with their routine drills.
North Korea has recently canceled an armistice agreement that was signed at the end of the Korean War in 1953, a symbolic move aimed to ramp up renewed tensions, and that they were serious with their threats.
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