Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high in the wake of the sinking of a South Korean corvette in March and North Korea's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island of South Korea in November. The North is also enriching uranium and pushing construction of a light-water nuclear reactor. At Gilju, in North Korea's North Hamgyeong Province, a strange activity has been detected hinting at the North's preparations for exploding a nuclear device for a test.
Following the November artillery attack, South Korea carried out a series of military exercises, despite opposition from China and Russia. President Lee Myung Bak is trying to check North Korean provocations. He also cannot ignore the strong antipathy among South Koreans toward North Korea.
Pyongyang responded to Seoul's military exercises with a threat from its defense minister, King Yong Chun. He said North Korea's armed forces "are becoming fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice, Korean style, based on the nuclear deterrent at any time if necessary."