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| North Korea's General Reconnaissance Bureau Director Kim Yong Chol |
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Noon
The Dora
Observatory looking across the Demilitarized Zone was shut down by security
forces.
However, most South
Koreans are going about their daily life and highway traffic is normal. North Korea also permitted more than 240 South
Koreans to enter a jointly-run industrial complex at its border city of Kaesong on Saturday.
On Thursday, South Korea fired dozens of artillery rounds
across the border, saying North
Korea had fired first to back up a threat to
attack the loudspeakers.
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9 a.m.
The warning by North Korea 's
Foreign Ministry came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday declared
his front-line troops in a "quasi-state of war" and ordered them to
prepare for battle. South Korea
on Thursday fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border, saying North Korea had
fired first to back up a threat to attack the loudspeakers.
In a statement
carried by North Korea 's
official Korean Central News Agency, the Foreign Ministry says North Korean
soldiers and people are "poised not to just counter-act or make any
retaliation but not to rule out an all-out war to protect the social system,
their own choice, at the risk of their lives."
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5 p.m.
"I would say
that our military will not make any empty talks," Ambassador An Myong Hun
told reporters.
An says North Korea
has asked for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss issues
including the current U.S.-South Korea military exercises, which were briefly
suspended.
The letter to the
Security Council president accuses South Korea
and the United States
of "fabricating" the land mine incident that led to the current
escalating tensions.
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2:30 p.m.
The Pentagon says America 's annual military exercise with South Korea has resumed after being stopped as a
result of escalating tensions and threats of war from Pyongyang .
David Shear, the
assistant secretary for Asia issues, says the exercise was temporarily halted
so that the U.S. and South Korea
could talk and coordinate over the recent exchange of artillery fire across the
border.
He says U.S. forces are at an increased security status
for the exercise and that the U.S.
is continuing to monitor the situation closely.
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1:00 p.m.
U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed deep concern over rising tensions
between North and South
Korea and urged them to engage in dialogue
to promote peace.
U.N. spokeswoman
Eri Kaneko said Ban also urged the two Koreas to refrain from taking any
further measures that might increase tensions.
Ban is a former South Korean foreign minister.
Tensions have
escalated since South Korea
accused rival North Korea
of shelling a border town on Thursday and retaliated with dozens of artillery
rounds. North Korea has
threatened further action unless Seoul
ends loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-North Korean propaganda at the border.
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7:30 p.m.
At a news
conference in Moscow on Friday, Ambassador Kim
Hyun Joon attributed the tensions to what he called military and political
provocations by the United States
and South Korea .
He repeated North Korea 's threat of military action if South Korea
does not meet a Saturday deadline for removing loudspeakers along their border
that recently resumed broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda after a lull of
11 years.
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11:50 a.m.
The officials say
the U.S.
is monitoring the situation, but hasn't taken any other military steps. It was
unclear if the exercise would resume.
North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un on Friday declared his front-line troops in a "quasi-state of
war" and ordered them to prepare for battle against South Korea in
response to an exchange of artillery fire on the border Thursday.
The annual exercise
began Monday and was slated to end next Friday.
The officials spoke
on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter
publicly.
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