MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Long-standing tensions between the two Koreas escalated again in late August when cross-border artillery fire erupted along the Demilitarized Zone, prompting Pyongyang to declare what it described as a "semi-state of war." The two countries eventually defused tensions in a series of talks.
"If the enemy provokes, retaliate speedily and accurately without hesitation," Han was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.
South and North remain legally at war, as no peace treaty was signed after the Korean War of 1950-1953.
