Tensions increase between North and South Korea

South Korea says it fired tens of artillery rounds toward North Korea after the North launched a shell toward a South Korean loudspeaker that had been blaring anti-Pyongyang broadcasts.
Seoul: North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un put his front-line troops on a war footing, as tensions between his nation and South Korea soar following an exchange of artillery fire.
"Kim Jong-un issued an order of the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA) that the front-line large combined units of the KPA should enter a wartime state to be fully battle ready to launch surprise operations," the North's official KCNA agency reported on Friday. The website for the outlet went offline later on Friday morning.
South Korean army soldiers stand guard near Yeoncheon, the South Korean town where a shell fell on Thursday.
South Korean army soldiers stand guard near Yeoncheon, the South Korean town where a shell fell on Thursday. Photo: Park Dong-ju
The North Korean ruling party's central military commission held an emergency meeting late on Thursday after North and South Korea exchanged fire across the demilitarised zone in one of the worst incidents between the two since 2010.
North Korean state broadcasters sent an urgent statement by the central command of the Korean People's Army about the emergency Workers' Party meeting, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. The North denied that it fired first, accusing the South of military provocation, Yonhap reported.
The command said it suffered no casualties and is "closely watching" how South Korea responds to the North's ultimatum of ending all anti-North propaganda broadcasts within 48 hours or facing "powerful military action", according to Yonhap.
Children are covered with blankets as they are evacuated in front of a shelter near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on Thursday.
Children are covered with blankets as they are evacuated in front of a shelter near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on Thursday. Photo: YONHAP
The exchange started when North Korea shot a rocket at a South Korean border area on Thursday afternoon, prompting Seoul's forces to reply with an artillery barrage, according to the South Korean Defence Ministry, which said it also suffered no casualties.
Tensions have flared in recent weeks across the so-called DMZ that bisects the Korean peninsula. Two South Korean soldiers were maimed on August 4 by landmines that the Seoul government says were recently laid by North Korea. Pyongyang denied any role in the blasts. Relations deteriorated further when South Korea responded by blaring propaganda on August 10 at the North through loudspeakers along the DMZ.
"The ball is in North Korea's court now," Koh Yu-hwan, professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said by phone. "If North Korea decides to fire back, that means the conflict will broaden, something probably neither Korea wants."
People carry emergency relief kits to a shelter near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on Thursday.
People carry emergency relief kits to a shelter near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on Thursday. Photo: YONHAP
More than 60 years after a civil war that ended in a stalemate, hundreds of thousands of troops are still dug in on both sides of the DMZ. More than 28,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea to protect against a possible invasion from North Korea.
Thursday's exchange was among the most serious since North Korea shelled a front-line island in the south in 2010, killing two marines and two civilians. Last year, their ships exchanged warning fire near a disputed Yellow Sea boundary.
South Korea's military remains on heightened alert after Thursday's incident and is closely monitoring the situation, the Defence Ministry said in an emailed statement.
Thursday's events come after the United States and South Korea began annual joint war games called Ulchi Freedom Guardian on Monday. The exercise, which North Korea calls a rehearsal for invasion, is scheduled to end on August 28. The US and South Korea say the drills are defensive.
South Korea has signalled more provocations may come as a key North Korean national celebration approaches in October.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula will certainly become more unstable if North Korea fires a long-range rocket ahead of the October 10 anniversary of the founding of its Workers' Party," Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute near Seoul, said by text message.
North Korea has completed an upgrade of its main long-range rocket site in a sign it may be preparing for a launch, according to the 38 North website, which is run by Johns Hopkins University.
Bloomberg