海角大神

A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered his troops to be in a 鈥渟emi-state of war鈥� Friday, issuing an ultimatum to South Korea to halt anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts by Saturday, or face military action.

It鈥檚 the latest threat amid a rise of tensions on the Korean Peninsula this week, after both nations exchanged fire Thursday. And it鈥檚 the "" of Kim鈥檚 ability to manage a military clash with Seoul, reports The Wall Street Journal.

鈥淪outh Korea will strongly retaliate against any kind of North Korean attacks and the North will have to take all the responsibility for such [actions],鈥� The Ministry of National Defense said in a message to the North.

On Aug. 20 North Korea fired shells into South Korea near the demilitarized zone and the South responded with an artillery barrage. South Korean President Park Geun-hye put the nation on high alert and was photographed meeting with her security team.聽

Pyongyang claims it did not fire shells on Aug. 20.聽

Tensions began to rise earlier this month when a mine blast injured two members of the South Korean border patrol. The South accused the North of planting the land mines.

A week later the South began using loudspeakers to broadcast cold war-style anti-North messages across the border. It was the first time since 2004 that the huge speakers on the South's side of the border had been turned on,聽. On Monday, North Korea began running its own broadcasts.

Annual military drills between the United States and South Korea, which often result in bombastic rhetoric from the North Korean regime, have just started. The US says it is closely monitoring the situation.

鈥淭丑别 . Because it鈥檚 a game of chicken 鈥� one side or the other has to back down, unless they find some sort of face-saving subterfuge,鈥� John Delury, a professor at Seoul's Yonsei University, told the Los Angeles Times. 鈥淎nd it doesn鈥檛 seem like they鈥檙e looking for face-saving subterfuge.鈥�

South Korea has brought up the possibility of restricting access to the joint industrial zone at Kaesong, which provides vital income for some 50,000 North Koreans.

The North鈥檚 bellicose rhetoric in recent years, the Associated Press reports, 鈥渋ncluding repeated threats to reduce Seoul to a "sea of fire," and the huge numbers of soldiers and military equipment already stationed along the border mean the area is always essentially in a "quasi-state of war."

But, as The Wall Street Journal reports, the stakes for North Korea are , since 鈥淪eoul loosened its rules of engagement to allow quicker, more powerful responses to North Korean aggression.鈥�

The shift came after a聽聽on a South Korean island that killed four people and led to the resignation of South Korea鈥檚 defense minister, criticized for a weak response.

North Korea鈥檚 tactics so far appear to come from a military playbook it has used successfully for decades. Its attacks are often calibrated to maximize fear but avoid a descent into a major conflict its inferior military can鈥檛 win, experts say.

Thursday鈥檚 shells from the North landed in a remote area, so causing no loss of life鈥攂ut generating concern in South Korea that further violence could follow. Pyongyang鈥檚 setting of a Saturday deadline is also a familiar gambit to increase anxiety and pressure from some inside South Korea to compromise

Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group told Reuters that the military exercises involving the 聽stationed in South Korea may reduce any risk of further escalation.

"This is a bad time to pick a fight with the South while it has all these resources there," Mr. Pinkston said.