Tension rise between North and South Korea as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared his frontline troops in a “quasi-state of war” and ordered them to prepare for battle a day after the most serious confrontation between the rivals in years. South Korea fired a barrage of artillery rounds into North Korea after the North shelled across the border to protest against anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts by Seoul, moves that raised tensions on the divided peninsula. Both sides said there were no casualties or damage in their territory.

North Korea did not return fire but warned Seoul in a letter that it would take military action if the South did not stop the broadcasts along the border within 48 hours. South Korean and U.S. surveillance assets detected the movement of vehicles carrying short-range Scud and medium-range Rodong missiles in a possible preparation for launches.

• The Korean peninsula had been occupied by Japan from 1910 to 1945.
• After the defeat of Japan in World War II, the Korean peninsula was occupied by the Soviet Union in the North and the United States in the South.
• South Korean history begins with the division of the Korean Peninsula in 1945. A civilian government was established in 1948, beginning the First Republic.Syngman Rhee becomes the first president.
• North Korea was proclaimed on September 11 in 1948, under the supervision of the occupying Soviet forces.  Kim Il-sung is named head of the North Korean Provisional People's Committee in February 1946./su_box]

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The line which separates North Korea and South Korea is called