North Korea approves ‘final attack’ on South Korea as tensions increase in region

Posted 2015-08-21 18:19 by Grunt Report with 0 comments

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared his front-line troops were in a “quasi-state of war” Friday and ordered them to prepare for battle, a day after the most serious confrontation with South Korea in years.

A North Korean military official says a meeting of senior party and defense officials led by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Thursday night and “reviewed and approved the final attack operation.”

He gave no details on what kind of military retaliation North Korea would see as appropriate punishment for South Korea’s shelling of its territory Thursday.

It’s the latest challenge in the regional feud. South Korea warned Friday that North Korea was likely to launch “provocations” if Seoul did not meet a Saturday deadline to cease propaganda broadcasts.

Kim Yong Chol, director of the general reconnaissance bureau of the North Korean army, on Friday denied South Korean allegations that Pyongyang has been raising tensions on the peninsula.

He denied the North fired anything across the Demilitarized Zone and says South Korea has not offered conclusive evidence where the rocket was launched in the North, or where exactly it landed in the South.

He suggested human error might have been a factor on the South Korean side and says the South’s decision to retaliate with its own barrage was dangerous and rash.

Kim says: “Skirmishes can lead to all-out war.”

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo issued a warning at a press conference as a South Korean media outlet reported that Pyongyang appeared to be preparing to test-fire short- and mid-range ballistic missiles.

The report by Yonhap News Agency cited a South Korean government source who said that North Korea seemed to be “weighing the timing of the firing under its strategic intention to increase military tension on the Korean Peninsula to the highest level.” The source also said that the apparent preparations for the test had been detected by South Korea’s joint radar system, which it shares with the United States.

The North has given Seoul a deadline of 5 p.m. Saturday evening (4 a.m. EDT) to remove border loudspeakers that—after an 11 year lull– have started broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda. Failure, Pyongyang says, will result in further military action. Seoul has vowed to continue the broadcasts.

Earlier Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared his country to be in a “quasi-state of war” and fully ready for any military operations starting Friday evening, according to a report by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency.

In response, South Korea raised its military readiness to its highest level. Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Jeon Ha-kyu told a televised news conference that South Korea is ready to repel any additional provocation.