North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his
frontline troops to be ready for war, against a
backdrop of rising military tensions between his
country and South Korea.

The announcement follows an exchange of artillery
shells across the two countries’ heavily fortified
border.

The Demilitarised Zone is a legacy of the 1950-53
Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a
peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still
technically in a state of war.

The North’s official KCNA news agency said the move
came during an emergency meeting late on Thursday
of the powerful Central Military Commission of which
Kim is the chairman.

During the meeting, Kim ordered frontline, combined
units of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to “enter a
wartime state” from Friday 5pm local time (08:00
GMT).

The troops should be “fully battle ready to launch
surprise operations” while the entire frontline should
be placed in a “semi-war state,” KCNA quoted him as
saying.

The CMC meeting came hours after the two Koreas
traded artillery fire on Thursday, leaving no apparent
casualties but pushing already elevated cross-border
tensions to dangerously high levels.

The KPA followed up with an ultimatum sent via
military hotline that gave the South 48 hours to
dismantle loudspeakers blasting propaganda
messages across the border or face further military
action.

The ultimatum expires on Saturday at 5pm.