After drone accusation

Kim puts border army on standby to fire

North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un

(Bild: KCNA via KNS)

North Korea on Sunday ordered its military units stationed near the border with South Korea to be ready to fire, the isolated state confessed. Previously, South Korea is said to have sent drones carrying propaganda leaflets to Pyongyang. 

The order stated that "eight artillery brigades in full combat strength should be ready to open fire". Other units had been ordered to "intensify surveillance on high alert", while "anti-aircraft observation posts have been reinforced" in the capital Pyongyang.

The situation on the Korean border is coming to a head - a North Korean border post can be seen in the background, with a South Korean one in front.

(Bild: Associated Press)

The drones allegedly sent by the South had dropped propaganda against the regime and the leaflets were full of "seditious rumors and nonsense", the North Korean news agency KCNA reported.

North Korea speaks of "military attack"
The flying of drones into Pyongyang's airspace "could be considered a military attack", explained the North Korean foreign ministry, adding that it was "an intolerable and unforgivable serious provocation". 

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun initially denied these accusations, but the country's General Staff later corrected its stance and declared in a statement that it "cannot confirm whether the North Korean accusations are true or not".