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Kim Jong-un declares ‘quasi-state of war,’ orders full combat readiness

August 20, 2015
North Korean soldiers attend military drills in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news. (Yonhap/KCNA)

North Korean soldiers attend military drills in this picture released by the North’s official KCNA news. (Yonhap/KCNA)

Kim Jong-un urged his troops to be prepared for combat as he declared a “quasi-state of war” according to the North Korea Central Television (NKCT), a media mouthpiece for the communist nation.

The leader called for an emergency meeting on Thursday following an exchange of artillery and rocket fire between the South and the North in which he gave orders to his military chiefs to ready the country’s soldiers.

“Commanders of the Korean People’s Army were hastily dispatched to the front-line troops to command military operations to destroy psychological warfare tools if the enemy does not stop the propaganda broadcast within 48 hours and prepare against the enemy’s possible counteractions,” a NKCT newscaster said according to Yonhap.

North Korea fired over the border after demanding that the South stop their loudspeaker propaganda campaign, an action both countries had agreed to stop back in 2004.

The South began the loudspeaker campaign on the border in response to a landmine explosion believed to be orchestrated by the North that critically hurt two of its staff sergeants.

Although Kim has declared a “quasi-state of war” the two countries are still technically at war stemming back to the Korean War, which was suspended after an armistice was signed back in 1953.