The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Saturday that it had entered a "state of war" with South Korea, the official KCNA news agency reported.

All matters between the two Koreas will be handled according to wartime condition, the DPRK said in a statement.

The long-standing condition of the Korean peninsula of being neither peace nor war is finally over, said the statement carried by KCNA.

The statement, issued jointly by the DPRK government, party and other organizations, warned that any military provocation near the land or sea border of the two sides would result "in a full-scale conflict and a nuclear war".

The KCNA news agency reports Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has ratified a strike plan by the country's strategic rocket force at a meeting convened early on Friday, March 29, 2013. [Photo: Image China]

The agency also reported Friday that DPRK declared that its rocket has been put on standby to hit the U.S. and South Korea in response to U.S. stealth bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula.

"The time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation" DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un was quoted as saying after an urgent meeting with top military officials early Friday.

He ratified a plan of the Strategic Rocket Force for firepower strike on the U.S. mainland, Hawaii and Guam, and South Korea if they "make a reckless provocation," said the KCNA.

Kim said the latest U.S. move is "not a simple demonstration of forces" but "an ultimatum that will ignite a nuclear war at any cost on the Korean Peninsula."

Two B-2 Spirit bombers were sent to the Korean Peninsula Thursday for a firing drill but U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel denied that flying the bombers to the peninsula would aggravate the situation in the region.

Tensions have been running high on the Korean Peninsula since the DPRK conducted its third nuclear test on Feb. 12 as a countermeasure against the joint military drills of the United States and South Korea.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)