South Korea mulls next steps against nuclear-armed North

Also Thursday, South Korean intelligence officials informed lawmakers that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered preparations for terror attacks on South Koreans.

South Korea has joined the United States and other regional powers in pushing for tightened U.N. sanctions on North Korea for its latest provocations.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the mouthpiece of Pyongyang, said its development of nuclear and “space” programs will remain intact after the shutdown, adding that South Korea’s plan to cut the funding of such moves by closing the complex will be unsuccessful.

As evidence of heightened anxieties, sounds of explosions early Saturday caused South Korean residents of a front-line island to prepare to evacuate, but it was later determined that the noise came from a North Korean artillery drill across the rivals’ disputed maritime border. Seaoul also has started preparatory talks with the USA on deploying an advanced missile defense system in South Korea in attempts to tighten the screws on Pyongyang. A few weeks ago, South Korea chose to shut it down, claiming the North was taking a large percentage of employee wages to purchase weapons.

The new measures are meant to deny North Korea the money it needs to develop miniaturised warheads and the long-range missiles required to deliver them.

Following the North’s fourth nuclear test on January 6th and its long-range missile launch just a month later, the South Korean government has raised its alert level on cyberattacks although no attempts have been detected so far.

Japan after the recent rocket launch declared a complete ban on visits by North Korean ships to Japan, something the South already does at its ports.

However the treaty was terminated as the United States withdrew in 2002.

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) on Saturday criticized the Obama administration for its “failed policy” toward North Korea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei says tougher sanctions and pressure may worsen the situation.

Pyongyang shocked the world last month and earned a global rebuke when it announced it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.