North Korean Missiles spotted in 'launch position

North Korea has stated that it is ready to launch a military strike on its southern neighbor should South Korean authorities do not give up their confrontational policies.

“Our arms are ready to fire and the exact coordinates are put into the warheads. Once we push the button, it will be fired and the strongholds of our enemies will be turned into a sea of flames,” an anchorwoman for the North Korean state television said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, North Korea has raised at least one missile into its upright firing position, fueling concerns that a launch could happen anytime soon..........

The United States and South Korean militaries have been watching movements of mobile ballistic missiles on the eastern coast of North Korea closely.

The Korean Peninsula has been locked in a cycle of escalating military rhetoric following the participation of nuclear-capable US B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers in recent joint military drills with South Korea.

On April 9, North Korea urged all foreign institutions, enterprises, and tourists in South Korea to leave the country, warning that the Korean Peninsula was nearing a ‘thermonuclear war’.

On March 30, North Korea declared that it was in a “state of war” with South Korea. Pyongyang warned that if Washington and Seoul launched a preemptive attack, the conflict would “not be limited to a local war, but develop into an all-out war, a nuclear war.”

Korean Crossroads: US wish for pre-emptive action-Prelude to global warfare

The real threat of the escalation of hostilities on the Korean peninsular - and consequently the world - comes not from North Korea, but from the United States itself, political analyst Michel Chossudovsky told RT.

The director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (www.globalresearch.ca) and professor of economics at the University of Ottawa believes it is the US which is trying to light a match.

"Just a few weeks ago it was revealed that the Pentagon had implemented a so-called playbook, which was to ratchet up tension with North Korea. During the war games it has dispatched [nuclear capable planes]... We have to put it in historical perspective, because these threats have been ongoing for more than half a century, since the end of the Korean War," he said.

Chossudovsky also added that it does not seem at all that the world is serious in its intentions at curbing nuclear threats as such: "Looking at US nuclear doctrine, we have a $32 billion refurbishing of nuclear weapons, which is barely acknowledged by the mainstream media. We have a $10 billion refurbishing of tactical nuclear weapons, which can be launched from a B-2 bomber, which have currently been deployed. And then we have a Senate decision which says that nuclear weapons are harmless to the surrounding civilian population and can be used in the conventional war theater."

When asked what tactics could possibly be implemented to avert the current crisis, Chossudovsky said that he sees a way out if "the people across the land, in Western countries, come to realize that the United States and NATO are a threat to global security, and if they wish to wage a pre-emptive nuclear war on any country in the world, that is a prelude to global warfare."

Pyongyang warns foreigners to evacuate S. Korea

Pyongyang has issued a warning urging foreign nationals to evacuate South Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The statement was followed by threats from North Korea of “thermonuclear” war on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has warned all foreign nationals to prepare to evacuate the South in the event of conflict. “We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war,” Reuters quoted KCNA news agency as saying, citing the spokesperson for its Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

Further,“all international organizations, businesses and tourists”were told to “work out measures for the evacuation.”
The statement was followed by renewed threats of “thermonuclear”war on the Korean Peninsula, AFP reported.
“The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermonuclear war,” Pyongyang’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee stated.
This marks the latest escalation in Pyongyang’s rhetoric.
The Russian Embassy in South Korea said that it has no plans to evacuate Russians from the country over Pyongyang’s warning.
“At this point we are working out our position on the issue. But our preliminary response has no signs of plans related to evacuation,” RIA Novosti quoted Russian diplomatic spokesperson Nikita Kharin as saying.
China later said that it does not want to see chaos on the Korean Peninsula and opposes further escalation, Reuters quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei as saying.
On Monday, a South Korean lawmaker Rep. Chung Moon-joon visiting the US said that nuclear support from Washington is needed to protect against North Korea’s continued aggression and unpredictability, and to keep its neighbor in check.
Chung Moon-joon suggested that South Korea needs nuclear weapons of its own – not just to intimidate Pyongyang, but also to send a strong message to China.
Recent tensions in the Korean Peninsula further escalated after North Korea announced that 51,000 workers would be recalled from a joint industrial Kaesong zone shared with the South, a major severing of economic ties between the countries.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said that she was resolved to break North Korea’s “vicious cycle”of having their bad behavior rewarded with economic aid.
“How long are we going to repeat this vicious cycle where the North Koreans create tensions and we give them compromises and aid?” she said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “North Korea must stop its wrong behavior and make a right choice for the future of the Korean nation.”
Tensions escalated further on Tuesday when North Korean laborers did not show up for work at the Kaesong joint industrial zone in the morning, effectively suspending operations. Earlier, Pyongyang refused to allow South Korean workers to enter the area, located a few kilometers inside the North’s territory.
Pyongyang issued another warning last week advising embassies in North Korea to considerevacuating in the event of war. Currently, about two dozen countries have embassies in North Korea; most have said there are no immediate plans to withdraw personnel.
The aggressive rhetoric from North Korea has motivated neighboring Japan to deploy Patriot missiles batteries to protect the 36 million people who live in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile launchers have been stationed in the Japanese capital, reinforcing battery units on Okinawa and other Pacific islands, an official said Tuesday.
The weapons were authorized to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards Japanese territory, Defense Minister Onodera Itsunori said on national television