Kijun Times

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered front-line military units to enter "a wartime state" after an exchange of fire with South Korea, his country's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Friday.

The announcement, employing bellicose language typical of North Korea, adds to the edgy situation in the region.

The two sides traded artillery fire over their heavily fortified border on Thursday afternoon, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry.

Two shells came from the North Korean side, the ministry said, and South Korea fired dozens of shells in response.

No casualties were reported from the exchange of fire.

North Korea hasn't given a detailed account of events, but the KCNA report Friday accused South Korea of committing a "military provocation."

Kim presided over an emergency meeting of the North's Central Military Commission late Thursday, issuing an order that the army's "front-line large combined units" should "enter a wartime state to be fully battle ready to launch surprise operations," KCNA said.

He also ordered that "the area along the front be put in a semi-war state," according to the report. The measures are to take effect from 5 p.m. Friday local time.

Theatrical conflict?

It's hardly the first time North Korea has used such alarming language.

During a period of heightened tensions in the region in 2013, North Korea announced it had entered "a state of war" with South Korea. That situation didn't result in military clashes.

Jamie Metzl, an Asia expert for the Atlantic Council in New York, said he thought it was unlikely that the current crisis would escalate further.

"North Korea has more to gain from conflict theater than from a conflict that would quickly expose its fundamental weakness," he said.

South Korea, a key U.S. ally where roughly 28,000 American troops are based, said it's on high alert after the exchange of fire.

The Pentagon is also monitoring the situation closely, said Cmdr. William Urban, a Defense Department spokesman.

Tensions spiked on the Korean Peninsula after two South Korean soldiers were seriously wounded by landmines on August 4 in the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries.

South Korea has accused the North of deliberately planting the mines, an allegation that Pyongyang denies.