North Korea: Army Units Are Ready to Strike Across Border

North Korea said Sunday its front-line army units are ready to launch strikes on South Korea, ramping up pressure on its rival that it accuses of flying drones over the capital of Pyongyang. North Korea on Friday said it would respond with force if South Korea drops propaganda leaflets over its territory again. South Korea has not confirmed whether it sent drones but warned it would sternly punish North Korea if the safety of its citizens is threatened, the AP reports. In a statement carried by state media Sunday, North Korea's Defense Ministry said the military had issued a preliminary operation order to artillery and other army units near the border with South Korea to "get fully ready to open fire."

A ministry spokesperson said the North Korea's military ordered relevant units to fully prepare for situations like launching immediate strikes on unspecified enemy targets when South Korea infiltrates drones across the border again, according to the statement. The spokesperson said "grave touch-and-go military tensions are prevailing on the Korean Peninsula" because of the drone launches. In a separate statement later Sunday, the spokesperson said that the entire South Korean territory "might turn into piles of ashes" following the North's powerful attack.

Ties between the two Koreas remain tense since a US-led diplomacy on ending North Korea's nuclear program fell apart in 2019. North Korea has since pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal and repeatedly threatened to attack South Korea and the US with its nuclear weapons. But experts say that's unlikely because North Korea's military is outpaced by the combined US and South Korean forces, per the AP. Observers predicted North Korea would escalate tensions ahead of next month's US presidential election to boost its leverage in future diplomacy with the Americans. (North Korea said last week it's cutting off rail and road connections to its neighbor.)