No Good News From North Korea

CLICK TO ENLARGE SEOUL, South Korea — After weeks of warlike rhetoric, North Kore

CLICK TO ENLARGENorth Korea's missile arsenal, its potential reach and payloads SEOUL

North Korea has been placed under martial law and Kim Jong-un has told his front-line troops to "be ready for a war," according to South Korean media reports. In an emergency meeting of his top defence and security officials on Saturday, the North Korean leader issued a series of orders that included the conclusion of preparations for a new nuclear test, the Joongang Daily reported.

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea delivered a fresh round of rhetoric Thursday with claims it had “powerful striking means” on standby for a launch, while Seoul and Washington speculated that the country is preparing to test a medium-range missile during upcoming national celebrations.

North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat Saturday, saying it has entered “a state of war” with South Korea a day after its young leader threatened the United States because two American B-2 bombers flew a training mission in South Korea.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has been making brisk movements in its main underground nuclear test site, but has put up a cover over the entrance of a tunnel to foil U.S. intelligence efforts to determine whether a detonation there might be imminent, South Korean officials and media reported Friday.

SEOUL, South Korea — Hackers apparently broke into at least two of North Korea’s government-run online sites Thursday, as tensions rose on the Korean Peninsula. The North’s Uriminzokkiri Twitter and Flickr accounts stopped sending out content typical of that posted by the regime in Pyongyang, such as photos of North’s leader Kim Jong-un meeting with military officials.

SEOUL, South Korea — Computer networks at major South Korean banks and top TV broadcasters crashed en masse Wednesday, paralyzing bank machines across the country and prompting speculation of a cyberattack by North Korea. Screens went blank at 2 p.m., with reports of skulls popping up on some computer screens, the state-run Korea Information Security Agency said – a strong indication that hackers planted a malicious code in South Korean systems. Some computers came back online more than 2 1/2 hours later.