North Korea says it’s in state of war with South Korea

In a joint statement by the government,political parties and organizations,North Korea said on Saturday that it will deal with all matters involving South Korea according to wartime regulations. It also warned it will retaliate against any provocations by the United States and South Korea without any prior notice.

The divided Korean Peninsula is already in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire,not a peace treaty. But Pyongyang said it was scrapping the war armistice earlier this month.

South Koreas Unification Ministry released a statement saying the latest threat wasnt new and was just a follow-up to Mr. Kims earlier order to put troops on a high alert in response to annual U.S-South Korean military drills. Pyongyang sees those drills as rehearsals for an invasion; the allies call them routine and defensive.

In an indication North Korea is not immediately considering starting a war,officials in Seoul said South Korean workers continued on Saturday to cross the border to their jobs at a joint factory park in North Korea thats funded by South Koreans

On Friday,North Korean leader Mr. Kim warned his forces were ready to settle accounts with the US after two nuclear-capable US B-2 bombers dropped dummy munitions on a South Korean island range as part of joint drills and returned to its base in Missouri.

North Korean state media later released a photo of Mr. Kim and his senior generals huddled in front of a map showing routes for envisioned strikes against cities on both American coasts. The map bore the title US Mainland Strike Plan.

At the main square in Pyongyang,tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for a 90-minute mass rally in support of Mr. Kims call to arms. Small North Korean warships,including patrol boats,conducted maritime drills off both coasts of North Korea near the border with South Korea earlier this week,South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said in a briefing on Friday. He didnt provide details.

The spokesman said that South Koreas military was mindful of the possibility that North Korean drills could lead to an actual provocation. He said that the South Korean and US militaries are watching closely for any signs of missile launch preparations in North Korea. He didnt elaborate.

Experts believe North Korea is years away from developing nuclear-tipped missiles that could strike the United States. Many say theyve also seen no evidence that Pyongyang has long-range missiles that can hit the US mainland.

Still,there are fears of a localized conflict,such as a naval skirmish in disputed Yellow Sea waters. Such naval clashes have happened three times since 1999. Theres also danger that such a clash could escalate. Seoul has vowed to hit back hard the next time it is attacked.

The first strike of the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK will blow up the US bases for aggression in its mainland and in the Pacific operational theatres including Hawaii and Guam, the North said on Saturday in the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. DPRK stands for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea,the Norths official name.

Pyongyang uses the US nuclear arsenal as a justification for its own push for nuclear weapons. It says that US nuclear firepower is a threat to its existence.