North Korea declares ‘state of war’ with South

Announcement taken ‘seriously’ by US but no extra troop movements have been seen near border

North Korea on Saturday declared it had entered into a "state of war" with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

The United States said it took the announcement "seriously", even though it followed a familiar pattern, while South Korea largely dismissed it as an old threat dressed in new clothing.

It was the latest in a string of dire-sounding pronouncements from Pyongyang that have been matched by tough warnings from Seoul and Washington, fuelling international concern that the situation might spiral out of control.

"As of now, inter-Korea relations enter a state of war and all matters between the two Koreas will be handled according to wartime protocol," the North said in a government statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

"The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over," the statement said, adding that any US or South Korean provocation would trigger a "full-scale conflict and a nuclear war".

The two Koreas have technically remained at war for the past six decades because the 1950-53 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Read more

Pray for the peoples of North Korea and South Korea and for peace on the Korean peninsula.