North Korea looks certain to face U.N. sanctions for this weeks' nuclear test, and South Korea on Thursday (May 28) raised the military alert level after its communist neighbour warned it was ready to attack.
Reclusive North Korea this week shocked the world with a series of provocations unseen since the 1950-53 Korean War, including war threats, missile launches and a nuclear test that puts it closer to having an atomic bomb.
The joint command for the 28,000 U.S. troops that support ... Read more

North Korea looks certain to face U.N. sanctions for this weeks' nuclear test, and South Korea on Thursday (May 28) raised the military alert level after its communist neighbour warned it was ready to attack.
Reclusive North Korea this week shocked the world with a series of provocations unseen since the 1950-53 Korean War, including war threats, missile launches and a nuclear test that puts it closer to having an atomic bomb.
The joint command for the 28,000 U.S. troops that support South Korea's 670,000 soldiers has raised its alert a notch to signify a serious threat from the belligerent North.
"As of 07:15am today, the South's Joint Chief of Staff raised our alert a notch from level 3 to level 2," said South Korea's Defence Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae at a news briefing in Seoul.
It is the highest threat level since the North's only other nuclear test in October 2006.
North Korea could be set for further provocations that includes additional short-range missile tests off its west coast, Yonhap news agency on Wednesday (May 27) night quoted an unnamed government source as saying.
However, South Korea's unification ministry said there are no extraordinary movements in North Korea.
"9:30 this morning, communication (regarding shipping) was conducted according to normal process," said Chun Hae-sung, a spokesman for the ministry.
Analysts said the North's sabre rattling might be partly aimed at firming leader Kim Jong-il's grip on power and helping him draw up succession plans in Asia's only communist dynasty after a suspected stroke in August raised question of his rule.
Weapons experts point out that while North Korea is pushing hard to develop a nuclear arsenal, it does not have an effective way to attack with an atomic warhead or bomb.
Security Council powers have agreed in principle that North Korea must face sanctions for defying a U.N. resolution put in place after its only previous nuclear test in October 2006 by exploding a second nuclear device, Western diplomats said on Wednesday.
One diplomat said possible steps include a ban on importing and exporting all arms and not just heavy weapons, asset freezes and travel bans for North Korean officials and placing more firms on a U.N. blacklist. The diplomats said cargo inspections were also possible, though China is reluctant.
The measures would expand on sanctions approved by the council after Pyongyang's 2006 nuclear test, penalties that have been widely ignored and left not enforced.
North Korea, which has only become poorer since Kim took over in 1994, has been punished for years by sanctions and is so destitute it relies on aid to feed its 23 million people, but that has not deterred it from provocations.
A spokesman for the North's military on Wednesday said the country could not guarantee the safety of the South's vessels in those Yellow Sea waters that have been the site of deadly naval clashes between the states in 1999 and 2002.
The spokesman also said South Korea's decision to join a U.S-led anti-proliferation initiative this week was a declaration of war making the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War invalid. Its military would also attack if the South inspects its ships. Close