North Korea detains another US citizen

North Korea sentences US student to 15 years' hard labour

16 March

A US student who was arrested in North Korea for trying to steal a political banner from a hotel has been sentenced to 15 years' hard labour.

Otto Warmbier, 21, was detained in January after he attempted to take down a propaganda sign hanging in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where he was staying.

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In a government-arranged appearance before North Korean media last month, the economics student said he had wanted to give the sign to a deacon at his church, who had offered him a used car in exchange for a memento from the country.

Appearing to read from a statement, he admitted committing "hostile acts" as he wept and begged for forgiveness.

"I made the worst mistake of my life," he said.

NBC points out that other US citizens detained by North Korea have recanted their statements once released, claiming they were coerced into public confessions.

After a trial apparently lasting less than an hour, Warmbier was found guilty of "severe crimes" against the state and sentenced to 15 years, despite the intervention of US diplomat Bill Richardson, who met with North Korean officials in New York yesterday to push for clemency.

The verdict comes at a time of mounting tensions between North Korea and the outside world, with United Nations sanctions over nuclear testing, as well as US-led war games in South Korea, contributing to an increasing breakdown in international relations.

However, there is reason to believe Warmbier will not serve out his lengthy sentence. The New York Times highlights North Korea's tradition of using detained US citizens as "diplomatic leverage against Washington", usually releasing them after weeks or months.

Christian missionary Kenneth Bae was held for the longest period, spending two years in captivity before being released in November 2014.

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North Korea: Kim Jong-un calls 'nuclear readiness'

04 March

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (pictured above) has called for his country's nuclear weapons to be made ready for use, according to reports from the country's state controlled media.

"The only way for our people to protect sovereignty and rights to live is to strengthen the quality and quantity of nuclear power and realise the balance of power," Kim said.

The call for nuclear readiness came in response to tough new sanctions unanimously approved by the United Nations this week, after the country's recent nuclear test and satellite launch.

In response, North Korea launched six short-range projectiles into the sea as a show of force, said South Korean officials.

"All the people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are now waiting for an order of combat to annihilate the enemy," said the Korean Central News Agency. It also spoke of North Korea's "surging wrath" at the "US imperialists" and South Korea's "traitors".

Many analysts have dismissed Pyongyang's statements as being typical of the country's "sabre-rattling".

"Such blood-curdling rhetoric is not unusual from North Korea," says BBC Korea correspondent Steve Evans. "Experts doubt it has the ability to make a bomb small enough to put on a feasible missile, though it does appear to be moving steadily towards that goal."

Reuters reports South Korea's President Park Geun-hye yesterday repeated a "stern warning against the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions" and said her country "would work to end tyranny by the North's leader".

North Korea lashes out after UN sanctions vote

3 March

North Korea has fired a barrage of short-range missiles off the Korean peninsula, just hours after the United Nations imposed harsher sanctions on the country.

South Korea said its defence ministry was attempting to identify the projectiles, which "all fell into the sea", Yonhap News Agency reported.

The UN yesterday voted to increase sanctions in a bid to halt the North's nuclear programme.

"The international community, speaking with one voice, has sent Pyongyang a simple message," said US President Barack Obama. "North Korea must abandon these dangerous programmes."

The restrictions, which come two months after the regime claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb, include mandatory cargo inspections and a ban on light weapons and aviation fuel sales. They also require countries to expel North Korean diplomats found to be engaging in "illicit activities" and double the number of people and institutions already blacklisted.

"These new measures are tougher than ever," said Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN.

"The resolution is far more sweeping than existing sanctions requiring a link to proliferation activities," says the Washington Post. "That precondition has been removed, in effect erasing the presumption of innocence."

The sanctions also gained the backing of China, North Korea's main trade partner and only ally, but the country called for the resumption of the so-called "six-party talks" to find a peaceful resolution to the North's nuclear weapons programme.

"Sanctions are not an end in themselves," said Liu Jieyi, China's ambassador to the UN. "Dialogue represents the only way to resolve the political issue on the Korean peninsula."

But the New York Times and the Washington Post both warn of loopholes in the deal.

"The sanctions do nothing about the Chinese oil transfers that keep the Kim regime alive," says the Post, while the Times warns that much depends on whether China will actually enforce them.

North Korea rocket launch condemned by UN

8 February

The United Nations has held an emergency meeting after North Korea confirmed it had launched a long-range rocket into orbit.

Pyongyang said the launch, which comes weeks after the country's fourth nuclear test, had put a satellite into space. However, critics believe the real purpose was to test its ballistic missile capabilities - the rocket could, in theory, be used to deliver a nuclear warhead.

The announcement provoked international condemnation at a UN Security Council meeting requested by South Korea, Japan and the US.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the launch as "deplorable", while US Secretary of State John Kerry said it was "destabilising".

China, North Korea's only ally, said it "regretted" the country's launch but urged "the relevant parties" to "refrain from taking actions that may further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula".

China's cautious approach may be motivated by the fear of pushing an already isolated and heavily sanctioned neighbour towards economic and political collapse, says the BBC.

While Sunday's launch "does not significantly alter the strategic balance of power in north-east Asia", it is nonetheless a "highly-provocative act", says the BBC's John Sudworth.

Kim Jong-un is often dismissed as "a buffoon and a lightweight", says The Guardian, "but with the launch of a ballistic missile with the potential to deliver a nuclear warhead to the western US mainland, it does not get any more serious than this".

Experts are divided about the true motives for the launch.

One theory is that the test was pure provocation. If the intention was to goad the US, South Korea and Japan - the countries Kim sees as his principle adversaries - "then the ploy worked", says The Guardian. But, with the UN weighing up what sanctions it may impose in response to last month's nuclear test, Kim could also be attempting to exert leverage.

North Korea's leader may also have learned from the fates of other dictators, such as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, who abandoned their nuclear programmes and suffered the consequences.

However, it remains unclear whether Sunday's launch was a success.

"In December 2012, North Korea successfully launched a satellite into orbit," said The Times yesterday, "but there is speculation that today's test, from a launch pad on the country's west coast at about 9.30am local time, was a failure."

North Korea sends used toilet paper across border

02 February

Pyongyang has sent balloons into its neighbour South Korea loaded with used toilet paper, cigarette butts and leaflets calling President Park Geun-hye "political filth".

Their actions came in retaliation to the South's resumption of its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into the North, which include the playing of South Korean pop songs and announcements critical of Kim Jong-un's regime across the border.

Seoul's decision in turn followed its neighbour's announcement last month that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.

South Korean military officials said yesterday's drop had sparked fears of a biochemical attack.

"There was concern that North Korea may have sent biochemical substances to harm our people but after analysing the content, it was just trash," they told the South Korean JoongAng Daily.

A government spokesperson in Seoul, meanwhile, condemned the North's methods as "immature".

Balloon drops and cross-border broadcasts have long been part of the psychological warfare between the two nations.

North Korea: US student arrested for 'hostile act'

22 January

North Korea has arrested a US student for allegedly committing a hostile act, state media announced today.

Otto Frederick Warmbier, from the University of Virginia, is believed to have been detained earlier this month, after entering the country on a tourist visa for a New Year trip. Reports say he was stopped at Pyongyang airport, where he was about to board a plane to China

China-based travel company Young Pioneer Tours confirmed one of their customers, named "Otto", had been detained in Pyongyang and that it was working closely with the US Department of State over the situation.

"In the meantime we would appreciate Otto's and his family's privacy being respected and we hope his release can be secured as soon as possible," said a statement from the company.

North Korea's KCNA news agency claims Warmbier was attempting to "destroy North Korea's unity" with the help of the US government.

The arrest comes amid heightened tensions in the region, with both the US and South Korea threatening to impose tough new sanctions on the North in response to leader Kim Jong-un's claims the country had tested its first hydrogen bomb.

In the past, North Korea has occasionally announced the arrests of foreigners during times of tensions "in an apparent attempt to wrest concessions or diplomatic manoeuvring room", the Associated Press says.

Warmbier is the third westerner known to be held in the isolated state. Last month, a Canadian pastor was sentenced to life in prison with hard labour for "trying to use religion to destroy North Korea".

North Korea claims to have invented hangover-free liquor

20 January

North Korea has invented hangover-free alcohol, the state newspaper Pyongyang Times has declared.

The "suave" drink, which is 30 to 40 per cent alcohol, is made from six-year-old ginseng extract and uses glutinous "scorched" rice instead of sugar, claims the newspaper.

It is a secret blend of the two ingredients, produced by Taedonggang Foodstuff Factory researchers, that makes the alcohol hangover-free, adds the report.

"Koryo Liquor, which is made of six-year-old Kaesong Koryo insam, known as being highest in medicinal effect, and the scorched rice is highly appreciated by experts and lovers as it is suave and causes no hangover," writes reporter Jong Hwa Sun. The drink "has already been registered as a national scientific and technological hit", adds the reporter.

Andray Abrahamian, a businessman who regularly travels to North Korea, told the UK-based North Korean News website: "There are some high quality liquors made in North Korea, though in my experience there is no such thing as hangover-free booze anywhere in the world."

While he hadn't tried the drink, he said insam liquors were "OK", although he was "not that keen on it as a tasty treat".

The invention, if confirmed, would prove quite a propaganda coup. However, North Korean state media is infamous for making unsupported scientific boasts. Last year, it claimed the country, under the guidance of leader Kim Jong-un, had invented cure for Mers, Sars and Aids.

Sky News says the liquor has reportedly won a series of accolades in the North Korean food and drink industry - including a top ranking at the fifth national liquor exhibition.

Does North Korea's hydrogen bomb test pose a threat?

07 January

World leaders have pledged a united response to North Korea's claim to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.

The US, South Korea and Japan have "agreed to work together to forge a united and strong international response to North Korea's latest reckless behaviour", said the White House.

Backing up the statement, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: "We agreed that the provocative act by North Korea is unacceptable. We will deal with this situation in a firm manner through the co-operation with the United Nations Security Council."

South Korea's presidential office added that the international community "must make sure that North Korea pays the corresponding price" for the alleged test.

The Daily Telegraph says that South Korea has also asked the US for military assets and that Washington could provide anti-missile defences, as well as escalating its naval and aerial presence in the region.

The UN Security Council has vowed to assemble new measures against North Korea, condemning the test claim as "a clear threat to international peace and security".

If North Korea's claim were to be confirmed, it would be its fourth nuclear test and its first of the more powerful H-bomb.

However, some experts doubt they really did conduct such a test. They argue the seismic activity generated by the blast was not large enough for it to have been a full thermonuclear explosion.

So is there really a threat?

Has North Korea really developed a hydrogen bomb?

Bombastic news reports in the isolated communist country claimed the nation has now "joined the rank of advanced nuclear states".

US and South Korean meteorologists did record a tremor near the presumed test site but experts say its magnitude of 5.1 suggests it may not have been a hydrogen bomb. "The bang they should have gotten would have been ten times greater than what they got," defence analyst Bruce Bennett told the BBC.

Experts suggested the device was more likely to have been an atomic bomb similar to those previously tested by the country.

Should we fear a nuclear North Korea?

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the reports "deeply troubling" and warned that North Korea possessing thermonuclear weapons would be "profoundly destabilising for regional security".

The country has even come under fire from its only ally, China. Given the state's heavy reliance on its neighbour, the instability that would come from a permanent rift could be economically disastrous.

What about other nuclear nations?

Five nations – the US, the UK, France, Russia and China – officially possess thermonuclear weapons while India, Pakistan and Israel are also believed to have developed them.

North Korea is not the only aspiring nuclear nation to chafe at the UN's use of sanctions to "police" development. Last year, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani lambasted the West's hypocrisy over nuclear proliferation, saying: "They tell us, 'We don't want Iran to make atomic bombs' – you, who have made atomic bombs."

North Korea: state claims first hydrogen bomb test

6 January

North Korea says it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, dramatically escalating that country's nuclear capacity.

It is the only the fourth nuclear test by North Korea, and the first conducted of a hydrogen bomb – which is far more powerful, and more easily converted into missiles, than the plutonium-based weapons previously tested.

The North Korean state news agency released an image purporting to show Kim Jong-un’s hand-written text ordering the nuclear test alongside a statement saying: "If there's no invasion on our sovereignty we will not use nuclear weapons."

The test was originally reported as a "seismic event" by state agencies in the US, China and Japan. The Chinese news agency Xinhua said an earthquake had been detected at 10am, about 11 miles east-northeast of Sungjibaegam, at the site that was used for North Korea's three previous nuclear tests.

American and South Korean officials say it is still too early to judge whether the test has been successful. Confirmation will depend on analysis of gas released into the atmosphere, which will take several days.

However, the UN Security Council has convened an emergency meeting in New York today to discuss the implications of the blast.

Philip Hammond, Britain's Foreign Secretary, said the test, if confirmed, would be a "grave breach" of UN resolutions and "a provocation which I condemn without reservation". The White House said it could not yet confirm the test, but reiterated that the US "will not accept [North Korea] as a nuclear state".

The UK's former ambassador to North Korea, described the events as "deeply worrying" telling the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme: "Anything that produces a seismic shock of 5.1 is dangerous ... an explosion of that size is quite enough to wipe out a city, and that of course is deeply worrying."

Yesterday, North Korea reasserted its "right" to develop nuclear weapons.

"We deserve to hold nuclear weapons and ceaselessly strengthen our Byungjin policy," North Korea's state-run Central News Agency said, referring to Kim Jong-un's policy of pursuing the dual goals of economic development and a nuclear weapons program.

South Korean commentators have noted that Kim Jong-Un did not mention nuclear weapons during an address to the nation on 1 January. "It seemed that he refrained from commenting on nukes at his New Year's speech due to the need to seek for a summit with the Chinese leader," said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute.

Are 'ghost ships' in Japanese waters from North Korea?

2 December 2015

Japanese coast guard has found 12 'ghost ships' carrying 22 decomposing bodies.

The coast guard says 12 such boats have been found since October carrying 22 "partially skeletonised" bodies. Two were found without heads.

"The rickety wooden ships wash up barnacle encrusted and eerily quiet. Like something out of a nightmare, they're manned only by skeletons, the passengers and crew killed by an unknown calamity," reports the Washington Post.

Autopsies have been unable to determine their nationality or any cause of death, but coast guard officials suspect that the boats came from North Korea. Investigators have found fishing equipment and nets on board, as well as signs written in Korean.

The lettering on one boat, which contained ten decomposing bodies, said "Korean People's Army", the name of North Korea's military defence forces.

John Nilsson-Wright, head of the Asia programme at Chatham House, told CNN that defectors from North Korea may be taking the more "dangerous route" across the Sea of Japan because traditional routes – such as crossing the land border into China – has become increasingly difficult.

Japan's state broadcaster NHK has also suggested that the vessels could be fishing boats that strayed off course.

Fishermen from North Korea, which is chronically short of food, have "increasingly forayed into Japanese waters hunting squid", the Associated Press reports. "They are usually ordered away when caught by the Japanese coast guard, since the two countries lack a fishing agreement."

Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University's Japanese campus, told the South China Morning Post that the regime in North Korea is pushing its farmers and fishermen to produce greater amounts of food.

He said: "To my mind, the most likely explanation is that these were simply fishermen who were trying to fulfil large quotas and simply ran out of fuel too far out at sea to get home."

Ban Ki-moon to travel to North Korea this week

16 November

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is due to travel to North Korea this week, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The South Korean diplomat is likely to meet with leader Kim Jong-un to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons program and other Korean peninsula matters, a UN source told the agency.

"There can't be such a situation where the UN secretary general visits North Korea and does not meet with the supreme leader of the UN member state," the source said.

The UN has refused to comment on the reports, but Ban's office did tell CNN that "the secretary general has always said that he is ready to play any role in order to help enhance dialogue, stability and peace on the Korean peninsula".

Ban had been scheduled to visit the country in May this year, but Pyongyang abruptly withdrew its invitation after the UN chief criticised a recent North Korean missile test, AFP reports.

If this trip goes ahead, it will mark the first time a UN secretary-general has travelled to the pariah state in more than two decades.

Kurt Waldheim visited the nation 1979 and Boutros Boutros-Ghali met with then leader Kim Il-Sung in 1993 to discuss international concerns about the country's nuclear ambitions.

North Korea defector: crowds clap at parades or face death

16 October

A former North Korean soldier who dramatically defected to the South by crossing a deep river into China has spoken about Kim Jong-un's totalitarian regime, saying national celebrations take place in a climate of fear.

The anonymous defector told Sky News that he had witnessed "a lot of public executions" and revealed he was beaten for 15 days after his first, failed, attempt to escape from the hermit nation.

The man left behind a wife and child, saying he had to go because they were starving and he hoped to earn money abroad. He told the broadcaster he had managed to get money to his family from South Korea where he now lives.

To get out of North Korea and into China, the man revealed he had set out at the dead of night and inched his way down a 150-metre near cliff face to a stretch of river that was not carefully watched because it was deep. He waded into water above his head and made it across to safety.

Asked about the country's repressive system, he told Sky things were worse now under Kim Jong-un than they had been when his father Kim Jong-il ruled. He said: "Public executions... I have seen a lot of public executions.

"When Kim Jong-un does something wrong, if the people don't live well, he points to someone else and says, 'you have done it wrong'. Therefore, the people get punished, or executed. It's not them that have done wrong.

"In our unit, when I was a lieutenant, we saw one of our own soldiers executed by gunfire."

He added: "In North Korea, if you watch South Korean dramas, then they can take you away, in extreme cases you can be executed. They watch it themselves first, and if it's fun, they keep it."

North Korea has been celebrating 70 years of the ruling Workers' Party this week and the defector was asked about the apparently jubilant crowds who have been watching parades and other celebrations.

He said: "If you don't clap, if you nod off, you're marked as not following Kim Jong-un's doctrine. You have to do it because you don't want to die.

"You chant 'Long Live' and clap because you don't want to die."

Testimony from several other North Korean defectors has proved unreliable recently - but those witnesses were describing life in North Korea's notorious prison camps while the experiences of the man Sky News spoke to were more mundane.

Writing in The Guardian this week, human rights researcher Jiyoung Song said that cash incentives offered to defectors by journalists are to blame for a series of exaggerations and downright fabrications about the camps.

She said defectors were paid $30 per interview in the late 1990s, to cover the cost of transport and meals, but this had risen to $200 an hour by May of last year. Since then, some defectors have received as much as $500 an hour for their testimonies.

Jiyoung blames the western media's "endless appetite for shocking stories", but says there is "no doubt the North Korean regime has committed serious human rights abuses".

North Korea to hold lavish party as country starves

9 October

North Korea is gearing up to host a huge celebration to mark the anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. The event, predicted to be biggest celebration since Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011, will take place tomorrow in the capital Pyongyang. It celebrates 70 years of communism under the governing party, which took control after North Korea won its independence from the Japanese in 1945. The celebrations are likely to involve a major military parade of tanks, weapons and soldiers and a mass rally on Kim Il-sung Square. Foreign dignitaries and journalists have been invited, though they will be carefully monitored and have limited access in the notoriously secretive pariah state. "To make sure Pyongyang looks its best, extensive construction projects have considerably prettied up the capital, which is far and away the most developed city in North Korea," Eric Talmadge reports for the Associated Press. But as the elite prepare to party, what is life like for the rest of the population? Lack of food North Koreans are among the most malnourished in the world, according to the United Nations. The country is plagued by drought and has suffered catastrophic famines that have led to millions of deaths.

The UN warns that another humanitarian disaster is now looming. Even North Korean state media, notoriously reluctant to publish negative news about the state, admitted that the country was suffering the worst drought in 100 years. Poverty North Korea's command economy is "dilapidated, hit by natural disasters, poor planning and a failure to modernise," says the BBC. The country funnels the vast majority of its limited resources into the military, with little left over for investment outside of Pyongyang. There are two different North Koreas, reports CNN's Paula Hancocks. "[There is] the sanctioned tourist view of the beautifully groomed gardens of the Pohyon Buddhist temple, with their perfectly preserved shrines," she says after a visit to the country. "And then there is the poverty I see flashing by the bus window." Human rights abuses Amnesty International estimates that hundreds of thousands of people are held in gulags across the country and reports of torture, public executions, slave labour, and forced abortions in prison camps are widespread. A UN report last year documented the extent of the abuses and its author said the evidence should "shock the conscience of humanity". [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"85304","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]] Political and civil rights are non-existent in the country, Human Rights Watch reports. All forms of organised political opposition, independent media and civil society organisations are repressed. "There couldn't be a clearer contrast between the fiction of a North Korean proletariat paradise and the reality across the country, says Phil Robertson, the organisation's Asia deputy director.

"If Pyongyang wants to really celebrate its founding party, it should stop its predatory exploitation of its people."

North Korea's main nuclear plant 'back in full operation'

15 September

North Korea has issued a warning to the United States and announced that its largest nuclear plant is once again in full operation.

The Yongbyon reactor is the country's main source of weapons-grade plutonium and Pyongyang says scientists are working to improve its stockpile of nuclear weapons "in quality and quantity".

The director of North Korea's Atomic Energy Institute warned that the country would now be ready to respond to threats from the US "at any time".

"If the US and other hostile forces persistently seek their reckless hostile policy towards the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and behave mischievously, the DPRK is fully ready to cope with them with nuclear weapons," he told state media.

The Yongbyon facility was shut down in 2007, but Pyongyang vowed to restart it six years later during heightened tensions with South Korea. Experts told the BBC that they believe the facility could produce one bomb's worth of plutonium per year.

However, the true scale of North Korea's nuclear capabilities remains unknown and US officials have in the past cast doubt on some of Pyongyang's claims.

North Korea has also announced plans to launch a long-range rocket to coincide with a key political anniversary next month. AFP warns that any such launch would invite fresh international sanctions and jeopardise a planned reunion for South and North Korean families.

Washington and Seoul both said that firing a long-range missile would constitute a clear violation of UN resolutions but South Korea said it had not detected any signs that the North was preparing such a launch.

The announcements come less than a month after North and South were on the brink of military confrontation, with Pyongyang declaring a "quasi-state of war".

North and South Korea agree on a deal to ease military tensions

25 August

North and South Korea have reached an agreement that has pulled them back from the brink of military confrontation after marathon crisis talks.

The deal was reached after representatives from Pyongyang expressed regret for landmine blasts that maimed two South Korean soldiers earlier this month and agreed to withdraw forces from the frontline.

In response, Seoul has vowed to stop broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda across the border, a significant sticking point for the North Koreans.

However, South Korea's Defence Minister Kim Min-seok said his country would "maintain its defence posture for the possibility of another provocation".

The negotiations in the border village of Panmunjom had "played out against a dangerous military stand-off," says Al Jazeera.

Kim Jong-un's regime declared a "quasi state of war" with a huge display of military might and South Korea promising to "retaliate harshly" to any acts of aggression.

The negotiations also resulted in an agreement to work towards the resumption of reunions for families separated by the Korean War and follow-up talks are scheduled.

"The outcome is what seasoned Korea watchers expected, though the tension has been cranked up much higher than in recent years," the BBC's Stephen Evans reports from Seoul.

But The Guardian's Aidan Foster-Carter warns that complacency is ill-advised. "Accidents can happen," he says. "Neither side wants war for a moment, but either could miscalculate or overreact, with terrible consequences."

Could South Korea's radio broadcasts lead to all-out war?

24 August

Representatives from North and South Korea are holding a second round of talks aimed at preventing the countries from returning to armed conflict.

But negotiations remain deadlocked, with Pyongyang demanding Seoul halt propaganda broadcasts across the border and South Korea insisting on an apology for landmines that injured two soldiers.

What has happened?

Two South Korean soldiers were injured last month after landmines exploded during a routine patrol of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Seoul blames the North and retaliated by resuming the broadcast of anti-Pyongyang propaganda across the border, which led to the exchange of artillery fire last Thursday. Kim Jong-un's regime subsequently declared a "quasi state of war" and demanded that Seoul halt the broadcasts or face military action.

What do the broadcasts contain?

Cross-border broadcasts, relayed by speakers along the border, have long been part of the psychological warfare between the two nations. The tactic was last used in 2004, when South and North Korea reached an agreement to dismantle their propaganda loudspeakers, the BBC reports.

The broadcasts from the South include news reports critical of Kim's regime, messages from defectors and even K-pop. "It used to be more stridently [against] North Korea in the past, but since the 1990s it has been trying to describe the reality of democratic society," a source told NK News.

What will happen next?

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is standing firm and has vowed to continue the broadcasts until the North apologises for the landmine blasts. "We need a clear apology and measures to prevent a recurrence of these provocations and tense situations," said Park. More than 4,000 residents have been evacuated from border areas and the government has warned that it will "retaliate harshly" to any acts of aggression.

Meanwhile, the North Korean military is under orders to be "fully ready" for war and the South's defence ministry has warned that 70 per cent of Pyongyang’s submarines have been deployed from their bases and its artillery strength near the border has doubled since Friday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The conflict is also having repercussions beyond the Korean peninsula. Concerned about the escalating tensions, China has stationed additional forces along its border with North Korea, according to the Daily Telegraph. The UN says it was following tensions "with serious concern" and the US is planning on sending a warplane and submarine to the region.

But experts are still sceptical that this will lead to an outbreak of large-scale fighting. "Both sides are really just trying to ramp up pressure on the other, looking for an upper hand in what are clearly very tough negotiations," said Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

The New York Times reports that the current situation is hardly unfamiliar. "The sides have often escalated tensions, matching threats of war with tough talk of retaliation before retreating into dialogue and short-lived deals on improving ties," says the newspaper. Young-woo, a former South Korean national security advisor agrees: "They'll say something like 'we didn't do this but let's all be more careful'."

Kim Jong-un puts North Korea troops on 'war footing'

21 August

North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his frontline troops onto a "war footing" after an exchange of artillery fire with South Korea. He has told his army to be ready to launch "surprise operations", says the Daily Telegraph.

The news comes after South Korea launched dozens of 155mm shells over the border, saying it was in retaliation for projectiles fired from the North. Seoul said its neighbour had been trying to hit a loudspeaker stack playing anti-Pyongyang propaganda.North Korea earlier gave the South 48 hours to cease the aural propaganda offensive or face military action. The South has dismissed the threat and insisted that the recordings will still be played.Seoul says the propaganda is in response to a landmine, which injured two of its soldiers earlier this month. It accuses North Korea of planting the mine in the demilitarised zone along the border, something Pyongyang has denied.Now North Korea's state news agency claims Kim is ready for war. KCNA said: "Kim Jong-un issued an order of the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA) that the frontline large combined units of the KPA should enter a wartime state to be fully battle ready to launch surprise operations."This is hardly the first time the North has used such bellicose language, however, says CNN. In 2013, the state news agency announced North Korea had entered a "state of war" with its southern neighbour - but there were no military consequences.Nevertheless, CNN dubs this latest development a "dangerous escalation" and the UN has said it is "closely following the developments with serious concern".Yesterday's firing was the most serious hostility since the North killed four soldiers from the South by shelling an island near the maritime border between the two Koreas, which have technically been at war with each other since 1950.

Residents of Yeoncheon county in South Korea were yesterday ordered to evacuate their homes and head to nearby shelters. The region is some 40 miles north of Seoul.