North Korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear weapons, saying they were the "life of the nation" and declaring they would not be traded even for "billions of dollars".
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un
A day after Pyongyang declared it was in a "state of war" with South Korea, the politburo of the isolated regime defied the latest round of international sanctions by setting a twin strategy for the year of "carrying out economic development and building nuclear armed forces simultaneously".
The official Korean Central News Agency pronounced that nuclear weapons "can never be abandoned as long as imperialists and nuclear weapons exist on earth".
It added that it would not negotiate over its atomic programme, a "treasure" and not a "political bargaining chip" to be abandonned for any amount of aid.
With tensions on the Korean peninsula running unusually high, there was also a warning that the North will pursue further "satellite tests", a programme that the West believes is a covert excuse to test its long-range missiles.
Recent weeks have seen near-daily threats from the North, including a vow to launch nuclear strikes on the United States, which followed a new round of United Nations sanctions in reaction to its third nuclear test last month.
The latest outburst was probably a response to annual US-South Korean military drills, which included a dummy bombing raid by a US B-2 stealth bomber last week.
A full-scale military attack by the North is seen as unlikely and the threats could well be designed to project the credentials of Kim Jong-un, the young leader, or to bring about a resumption of talks and more aid. International powers are nonetheless concerned that with the atmosphere so edgy, only a small spark would be needed for a major incident.
Among the people of Seoul, just 30 miles away from the North Korean border, there is little such worry.
The capital of the south has only one nuclear bunker, underneath its presidential palace, and while it claims that more than 20 million people can hide underground from an attack, in reality its shelters are merely the basement floors of skyscrapers and its underground stations.
According to experts, tens if not hundreds of lives would be instantly lost if the imposing array of artillery dug into the hills behind the demilitarised zone opened fire.
More dramatic estimates range up to two million deaths in the case of a nuclear attack, according to a model drawn up by US officials.
And yet Seoulites were wholly unconcerned, yesterday, at living in Pyongyang's nuclear shadow. Like the boy who cried wolf, Pyongyang is finding that few of its southern cousins take it seriously any longer.
"They are making life difficult for the South Korean government, but a war is not going to happen," said 69-year-old Yongja Kim. "They are just trying to create fear."
Even 79-year-old Wooseok Shin, who can point to the scars on his face and hands left by the bayonets of North Korean soldiers when they streamed into the South some six decades ago, is adamant that there will be no further fighting between the two sides.
"I am so sure there will not be a war, I am willing to volunteer to go and guard at the frontline!" he joked, as he handed Korean flags out to children at the War Memorial Museum, Seoul's equivalent of the Imperial War Museum.
"I remember when the Korean war started they attacked on a Sunday. My grandfather woke me and said we had to leave. I followed him, and saw the fighting in the streets and the bodies piled up. I fought, as a 16-year-old, until the end of the war. Today, the kids ask me if it even happened," he said.
"What North Korea is up to now is psychological warfare," he added. "They will not attack again. They would have to risk their entire country to wage war. They are simply being provocative to win more economic aid".
Seoul's location so close to the potential front line of any war is a result of American officials dividing the country along the 38th parallel, right next to the city.
However, one South Korean soldier blowing bubbles in the square outside the museum yesterday with his wife and four-year-old son said the city was well-protected. "You can see that by how many people are out in the sunshine relaxing," he said.
He did not reveal if the South Korean army is on battle watch, but around the corner, the US army base at Itaewon was not on alert. There are some 700,000 North Korean troops near the border, but the general consensus is that a ground attack is unlikely.
The battle, said Mr Shin, would consist of a single missile.
A day after Pyongyang declared it was in a "state of war" with South Korea, the politburo of the isolated regime defied the latest round of international sanctions by setting a twin strategy for the year of "carrying out economic development and building nuclear armed forces simultaneously".
The official Korean Central News Agency pronounced that nuclear weapons "can never be abandoned as long as imperialists and nuclear weapons exist on earth".
It added that it would not negotiate over its atomic programme, a "treasure" and not a "political bargaining chip" to be abandonned for any amount of aid.
With tensions on the Korean peninsula running unusually high, there was also a warning that the North will pursue further "satellite tests", a programme that the West believes is a covert excuse to test its long-range missiles.
Recent weeks have seen near-daily threats from the North, including a vow to launch nuclear strikes on the United States, which followed a new round of United Nations sanctions in reaction to its third nuclear test last month.
The latest outburst was probably a response to annual US-South Korean military drills, which included a dummy bombing raid by a US B-2 stealth bomber last week.
A full-scale military attack by the North is seen as unlikely and the threats could well be designed to project the credentials of Kim Jong-un, the young leader, or to bring about a resumption of talks and more aid. International powers are nonetheless concerned that with the atmosphere so edgy, only a small spark would be needed for a major incident.
Among the people of Seoul, just 30 miles away from the North Korean border, there is little such worry.
The capital of the south has only one nuclear bunker, underneath its presidential palace, and while it claims that more than 20 million people can hide underground from an attack, in reality its shelters are merely the basement floors of skyscrapers and its underground stations.
According to experts, tens if not hundreds of lives would be instantly lost if the imposing array of artillery dug into the hills behind the demilitarised zone opened fire.
More dramatic estimates range up to two million deaths in the case of a nuclear attack, according to a model drawn up by US officials.
And yet Seoulites were wholly unconcerned, yesterday, at living in Pyongyang's nuclear shadow. Like the boy who cried wolf, Pyongyang is finding that few of its southern cousins take it seriously any longer.
"They are making life difficult for the South Korean government, but a war is not going to happen," said 69-year-old Yongja Kim. "They are just trying to create fear."
Even 79-year-old Wooseok Shin, who can point to the scars on his face and hands left by the bayonets of North Korean soldiers when they streamed into the South some six decades ago, is adamant that there will be no further fighting between the two sides.
"I am so sure there will not be a war, I am willing to volunteer to go and guard at the frontline!" he joked, as he handed Korean flags out to children at the War Memorial Museum, Seoul's equivalent of the Imperial War Museum.
"I remember when the Korean war started they attacked on a Sunday. My grandfather woke me and said we had to leave. I followed him, and saw the fighting in the streets and the bodies piled up. I fought, as a 16-year-old, until the end of the war. Today, the kids ask me if it even happened," he said.
"What North Korea is up to now is psychological warfare," he added. "They will not attack again. They would have to risk their entire country to wage war. They are simply being provocative to win more economic aid".
Seoul's location so close to the potential front line of any war is a result of American officials dividing the country along the 38th parallel, right next to the city.
However, one South Korean soldier blowing bubbles in the square outside the museum yesterday with his wife and four-year-old son said the city was well-protected. "You can see that by how many people are out in the sunshine relaxing," he said.
He did not reveal if the South Korean army is on battle watch, but around the corner, the US army base at Itaewon was not on alert. There are some 700,000 North Korean troops near the border, but the general consensus is that a ground attack is unlikely.
The battle, said Mr Shin, would consist of a single missile.
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