Kim Jong Un 'orders North Korea troops to enter a wartime state'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his frontline troops are in a "quasi-state of war" and ordered them to prepare for battle a day after the most serious confrontation with South Korea in years.

South Korea's military on Thursday fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border in response to what Seoul said were North Korean artillery strikes meant to back up a threat to attack loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda.