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| [PHOTO: John Pavelka/CC BY 2.0] |
Pyongyang: North Korea
has declared a “state of war” against South Korea, stating that from now on any
issues between the two countries will be resolved in a "wartime
manner."
A statement
carried by state media on March 30 said, "As of now, inter-Korea relations
enter a state of war and all matters between the two Koreas will be handled
accordingly."
“From this time on, the North-South relations will be
entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South
will be handled accordingly,” a special statement by the country’s top military
command reads, according to the KCNA state news agency.
“The situation in the Korean Peninsula, which is neither
peace nor war, has come to an end,” the statement says.
Technically, the two Koreas are still in state of war since
a peace treaty after the 1950-53 conflict had never been signed.
North Korea
has also warned that any military provocation would result "in a
full-scale conflict and a nuclear war."
Notably, the
South Korean government has brushed off the North's latest statement, calling
it "the continuation of provocative threats."
As per
state media the move was in response to U.S. stealth-bomber flights over the
Korean Peninsula.
North Korea
has threatened to attack South Korean and U.S. targets since the beginning of
March, when the two allies started military exercises.
On March
27, it warned that war "may break out at any moment."