The provocations and rhetoric from North Korea are escalating. On Monday, the same day it carried out its second nuclear test, it fired two short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan. The next day it launched three more short-range missiles. There is a report that it has restarted reprocessing nuclear fuel at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.
After Seoul decided, following the North's nuclear test, to join the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led network of more than 90 nations aimed at stopping and inspecting ships suspected of transporting banned weapons and nuclear materials, Pyongyang said it was no longer bound by an 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War.
Saying that Seoul's decision is tantamount to a declaration of war, Pyongyang threatens to take "substantive actions corresponding to wartime." It also says it cannot guarantee the safety of the U.S. and South Korean ships in the Yellow Sea.