North Korea ratchets up tensions after trading fire with South

August 21, 2015 22:25

Stern warnings flew back and forth across the border between North Korea and South Korea on Friday, the day before a North-imposed deadline for the South to shut off propaganda broadcasts or face war.

Kim Jong Un, the supreme commander of the North Korean military, ordered front-line units along the heavily fortified frontier to move to a war footing Friday evening, state media reported.

His nuclear-armed regime, known for being both thin-skinned and fond of saber rattling, has warned South Korea it faces military action if it doesn't turn off the propaganda loudspeakers by Saturday evening.

"The situation of the country is now inching closer to the brink of war," Ji Jae Ryong, North Korean ambassador to China, told journalists in Beijing on Friday. He blamed South Korea for the situation.

That doesn't necessarily mean war really is imminent: North Korea has used similar language in the past without hostilities breaking out. But South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Friday that North Korea was pushing the tensions "to the utmost level."

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