Korea shakes as sabres rattle
The hostile atmosphere on the Korean peninsula has been underlined over the past few weeks by military posturing
A South Korean K-55 self-propelled howitzer fires during a military exercise in the border city between two Koreas, Paju, north of Seoul, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. North Korea vowed Tuesday to restart a nuclear reactor that can make one bomb's worth of plutonium a year, escalating tensions already raised by near daily warlike threats against the United States and South Korea.Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press
South Korean soldiers conduct field firing drills near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul, April 2, 2013. North Korea will restart its shuttered Yongbyon nuclear reactor, its official KCNA news service said on Tuesday, a move that could enable it to extract more plutonium to bolster its atomic stockpile for use in nuclear weapons.LEE JAE-WON/Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un talks with officers at a guard post during his visit to the Jangjae Islet Defence Detachment and Mu Islet Hero Defence Detachment on the front, near the border with South Korea, southwest of Pyongyang, March 7, 2013.KCNA/Reuters
North Korea's artillery sub-units, whose mission is to strike Daeyeonpyeong island and Baengnyeong island of South Korea, conduct a live shell firing drill to examine war fighting capabilities in the western sector of the front line, in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 14, 2013.KCNA/Reuters
A rocket is fired during a drill of drone planes assaulting targets and a firing drill of self-propelled flak rocket destroying "enemy" cruise missiles coming in attack in low altitude, conducted by the air force and air defence artillery units of the Korean People's Army in an undisclosed location in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 20, 2013.KCNA/Reuters
A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet lands on the runway during a military exercise at the Osan U.S. Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. North Korea vowed Tuesday to restart a nuclear reactor that can make one bomb's worth of plutonium a year, escalating tensions already raised by near daily warlike threats against the United States and South Korea.Bae Jung-hyun/The Associated Press
South Korean soldiers conduct river-crossing operation drills in Hwacheon, about 20 km south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, northeast of Seoul, April 1, 2013. South Korea will strike back quickly if the North stages any attack, the new president in Seoul warned on Monday, as tensions ratcheted higher on the Korean peninsula amid shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang and the U.S. deployment of radar-evading fighter planes.YONHAP/Reuters
North Korean soldiers with weapons attend military training in an undisclosed location in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 11, 2013. South Korea and U.S. forces are conducting large-scale military drills until the end of April, while the North is also gearing up for a massive state-wide military exercise.KCNA/Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over an operations meeting on the Korean People's Army Strategic Rocket Force's performance of duty for firepower strike at the Supreme Command in Pyongyang, early March 29, 2013. North Korea put its rocket units on standby on Friday to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula in a rare show of force. Kim Jong-un signed off on the order at a midnight meeting of top generals and "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation," the official KCNA news agency said. The sign on the left reads, "Strategic force's plan to hit the mainland of the U.S."KCNA/Reuters
U.S. Air Force A-10 attack aircraft wait to take off on the runway during their military exercise at the Osan U.S. Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. North Korea vowed Tuesday to restart a nuclear reactor that can make one bomb's worth of plutonium a year, escalating tensions already raised by near daily warlike threats against the United States and South Korea.Bae Jung-hyun/The Associated Press