Special to WorldTribune.com
As North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un declared on Aug. 21 that Pyongyang was in a “quasi-state of war,” U.S. troops were seen mobilizing at a South Korean border town.
“The Korean People’s Army (KPA) front-line large combined units entered into a wartime state all at once, fully armed to launch surprise operations, and wound up their preparedness for action,” the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language dispatch, according to the South Korean Yonhap news agency.
Kim has reportedly also moved Scud missiles to North Pyongan Province where they are said to be poised to strike 11 key targets in South Korea.
The International Crisis Group reported on Aug. 21 that there was a significant number of U.S. troops mobilizing in the South Korean town of Paju, bordering North Korea.
The escalation in tensions began on Aug. 21 when North Korea first fired a single round believed to be from an anti-aircraft gun, which landed near a South Korean border town, Seoul said. About 20 minutes later, three North Korean artillery shells fell on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). South Korea responded with dozens of 155-mm artillery rounds, according to South Korean defense officials.
Kim made the “quasi-state of war” declaration at an emergency meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC), according to KCNA.
The CMC endorsed Kim’s ultimatum that Seoul turn off loudspeakers that are broadcasting propaganda into North Korea. The North has given the South until 5 p.m. Pyongyang time (4:30 a.m. ET) Saturday to stop the broadcasts and remove loudspeakers or suffer what it says will be severe military consequences.
The KCNA report added that North Korean forces are waiting for “an order of attack,” warning the loudspeakers are “within the sight of the KPA’s multiple rocket launchers and tactical and strategic rocket forces.”
South Korean Defense Minister Han Minkoo said North Korea will face “searing” consequences if it launches further attacks. “This time, we’ll cut off a vicious circle of North Korean provocation,” Han said, according to The Associated Press.
U.S. troops mobilize near Korea’s DMZ as Kim declares ‘quasi state of war’ added by World Tribune on
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