North Korea: We're Now in 'State of War' With South

But South Korea downplays threat
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 30, 2013 7:19 AM CDT
North Korea: We're Now in 'State of War' With South
In this March 7, 2013, photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un uses a pair of binoculars to look at the South's territory.   (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS, File)

North Korea keeps one-upping its own rhetoric: Today, Pyongyang declared that "from this time on, the North-South relations will be entering a state of war," reports the BBC. "The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over." The South shrugged off the threat as more hot air, reports Reuters. Yesterday, North Korea threatened to attack the US, too.

The North today also said it might close an industrial park jointly run by both nations, described by the AP as "the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation." Most analysts quoted in the stories say the risk of actual war is almost non-existent, but they worry that the North is raising tensions to such a level that the smallest incident could escalate out of control. (More North Korea stories.)

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