North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in a continuing escalation of angry rhetoric directed at Seoul and Washington, but the South brushed off the statement as little more than tough talk.
The two Koreas have been technically in a state of war for six decades under an armistice that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Despite its threats few people see any indication Pyongyang will risk a near-certain defeat by re-starting full-scale war.
"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.
KCNA said the statement was issued jointly by the North's government, ruling party and other organizations.
There was no sign of unusual activity in the North's military or anything to suggest an imminent aggression, a South Korean defense ministry official said.
North Korea 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 militaries started routine drills.
But the North has kept a joint industrial zone with the South running. The Kaesong zone is a source of hard currency for the impoverished state and hundreds of South Korean workers and vehicles enter daily after crossing the heavily armed border between the rivals.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday signed off on an order putting its missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in the South and the Pacific, after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula in a rare show of force.
U.S. officials said the B-2 bombers were on a diplomatic sortie aimed at reassuring allies South Korea and Japan and were also aimed at trying to nudge Pyongyang back to dialogue, although there was no guarantee Kim would get the message as intended.
The South Korean government brushed off the North's latest statement on Saturday, saying there was nothing fresh in it to cause greater alarm. South Koreans went about with daily lives as they have done through March under the North's constant threat of attack.
The Unification Ministry, which handles political ties with the North, said the Kaesong industrial park was operating as normal with workers and vehicles crossing the border both says.
"North Korea's statement today … is not a new threat but is the continuation of provocative threats," a ministry statement said.
The Defence Ministry urged the North to stop issuing threats, reiterating the position that annual military drills conducted jointly with U.S. forces until the end of April were strictly defensive in nature.
The North's statement said it would respond "without mercy" to any action by the South that harmed its sovereignty, suggesting it was not about to mount a pre-emptive attack.
In 2010, North Korea bombed a South Korean island close to the maritime border that Pyongyang disputes, killing two civilians and two soldiers and prompting the South to strike back with artillery and sharply elevating tensions.
Earlier that year, a South Korean navy ship was struck by a torpedo and sank, killing 46 sailors in an incident widely blamed on the North's military although Pyongyang denies the charge.
As per BBC Report:
The North Korean situation could spiral out of control, Russia has warned, after another day of inflamed rhetoric from Pyongyang.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned of a "vicious circle" and told all sides to avoid unilateral action.
On Thursday, the North threatened to "settle accounts" and said it had put missiles on stand-by to hit the US.The US, which flew stealth bombers over South Korea this month, condemned the North's "bellicose rhetoric".
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the rhetoric only deepened North Korea's isolation.
North Korean state media reported leader Kim Jong-un "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists".
Analysis Charles Scanlon BBC News:
Bluff has long played a fundamental role in North Korean strategy. The regime in Pyongyang needs its much more powerful neighbours and antagonists to take its threats seriously. By threatening potential chaos and war in the heart of the world's most dynamic economic region, it has in the past been able to transcend its own weakness and extract diplomatic concessions.
But the United States may be about to call North Korea's bluff. The US treasury department is taking steps to squeeze North Korea financially, and the Pentagon has flown B-52 and B-2 bombers over the Korean peninsula - moves that are guaranteed to provoke a hostile reaction.
Washington's tough stance presents Kim Jong-un with a dilemma. He wants to show his generals and the North Korean people that he can force concessions from the United States - in the same style as his father and grandfather. He could now be tempted to take brinkmanship to a new level, to try to convince the US and the region that confrontation does not work and carries too many risks.
He was said to have condemned US B-2 bomber sorties over South Korea as a "reckless phase" that represented an "ultimatum that they will ignite a nuclear war at any cost on the Korean Peninsula".
US mainland and bases in Hawaii, Guam and South Korea were all named as potential targets.
North Korea's most advanced missiles are thought to be able to reach Alaska, but not the rest of the US mainland.
'Increasing military activity'
State media in the North showed thousands of soldiers and students at a mass rally in Pyongyang supporting of Kim Jong-un's announcement.
China, North Korea's biggest trading partner, immediately reiterated its call for all sides to ease tensions.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news conference that "joint efforts" should be made to turn around a "tense situation".
He made similar remarks on Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov went further, voicing concern that "we may simply let the situation slip out of our control and it will slide into a spiral of a vicious circle".
"We are concerned that... unilateral action is being taken around North Korea that is increasing military activity," he said.
Timeline: Korean tensions
12 Dec: North Korea fires three-stage rocket, in move condemned by UN as banned test of long-range missile technology
12 Feb: North Korea conducts an underground nuclear test, its third after tests in 2006 and 2009
7 Mar: UN approves fresh sanctions on Pyongyang; North Korea says it has the right to a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" on the US
11 Mar: US-South Korea annual joint military drills begin; North Korea says it has scrapped the Korean War armistice (the UN says the pact cannot be unilaterally scrapped)
19 Mar: US flies B-52 nuclear-capable bombers over Korean peninsula, following several North Korean threats to attack US and South Korean targets
20 Mar: Broadcasters and banks in South Korea hit by cyber attack, the origin of which remains unknown, days after North Korea says some of its sites were hacked
27 Mar: North Korea cuts military hotline with South, the last official direct link between the two
28 Mar: US flies stealth bombers over Korean peninsula; showcasing ability for precision strike "at will"
In an earlier statement, the US military said that the B-2 stealth bombers demonstrated America's ability to "provide extended deterrence" to its allies and conduct "long-range, precision strikes quickly and at will".
"The North Koreans have to understand that what they're doing is very dangerous," US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters on Thursday.
"We must make clear that these provocations by the North are taken by us very seriously and we'll respond to that."
The US had already flown nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over South Korea earlier this month, in what it called a response to escalating North Korean threats.
Tensions in the Korean peninsula have been high since North Korea's third nuclear test on 12 February, which led to the imposition of fresh sanctions.
North Korea has made multiple threats against both the US and South Korea in recent weeks, including warning of a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" on the US and the scrapping of the Korean War armistice.
While North Korea has issued many threats against the US and South Korea in the past, this level of sustained rhetoric is rare, observers say.
On 16 March, North Korea warned of attacks against South Korea's border islands, and advised residents to leave the islands.
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