Tensions rise on Korean peninsula

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Play VideoDPRK says truce is dead Play VideoS. Korea, Japan respond to DPRK´s nuclear test

Tensions are rising on the Korean peninsula following the DPRK's recent nuclear tests. And South Korea's participation in the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative has further angered Pyongyang.

Just one day after Pyongyang's most recent nuclear test on Monday, South Korea announced its participation in the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative.

Under the program, ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction will be intercepted off the coast of the Korean peninsula.

The DPRK is taking the matter seriously, saying the announcement was equal to a declaration of war.

The DPRK's military said in a statement that it would respond with strong measures against any attempt to stop and search DPRK ships under the Proliferation Security Initiative.

The statement, issued by the DPRK's Korean Central News Agency, also said Pyongyang no longer considered itself bound by the armistice that ended the Korean War.

The DPRK blames the escalating tensions in the region on Washington, saying the US is building up its forces. It defends its nuclear test as a matter of self-preservation.

South Korean soldiers look at the North Korean side at a post in Paju near the Demilitarised Zone dividing the two Koreas on May 27, 2009.(AFP/Jung Yeon-Je)

South Korea is also busy working on its response strategy. The country' s Yonhap News Agency is reporting that the combined South Korea-US Command Forces have decided to raise their watch level against the DPRK by one notch.