North Korea Combat Ready

Bluster? We can hope.

By Shinhye Kang

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea ordered its armed forces to be combat ready ahead of U.S.-South Korea military exercises scheduled to begin today, state-run media reported.

The Korean People’s Army will “deal merciless retaliatory blows at them, should they intrude into the sky and land and seas” of the communist state, the Korea Central News Agency said in a statement early today, citing the army’s Supreme Command.

The March 9-20 joint military exercises involve some of the 28,500 American soldiers stationed in South Korea as well as an undisclosed number of other U.S. personnel in the region, according to the United States Forces Korea Web site.

In a separate statement, North Korea said it will cut off military communications with South Korea from today. South Korea’s Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang Ho and other top officials met to discuss the statements and the safety of about 700 civilians who are due to enter the Gaeseong industrial complex in North Korea today.

This is North Korea's version of diplomacy.