Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered troops along the heavily armed border with rival South Korea to be on high alert during a visit to the Demilitarised Zone, state media reported Sunday.
Kim's visit to Panmunjom village, his first reported trip there since the December death of his father, Kim Jong-il, comes amid escalating militaristic rhetoric aimed at US ally South Korea just days after Washington and Pyongyang agreed to a nuclear deal after years of deadlock.
Bolstering credentials
Recent North Korean threats, including vows of a "sacred war" against Seoul over US-South Korean military drills, appear to be aimed at a domestic audience, analysts say, and could be an effort to bolster Kim Jong-un's credentials as a military leader after showing off his diplomatic skills on the US nuclear deal.
Still, the rhetoric keeps the region on edge and complicates diplomatic efforts to settle the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
North Korea has acted on its threats in the past. Violence in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans and led to fears of a broader conflict.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of North Koreans rallied in Pyongyang, vowing to topple South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who ended a no-strings-attached aid policy to the North when he took power in 2008, instead linking assistance to nuclear disarmament.
