U.S. and South Korea raise alert on North

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea and the United States raised the military alert level for the peninsula on Thursday after the communist North warned the truce ending the Korean War was dead and it was ready to attack.

North Korea ramped up tensions this week with a series of provocations rarely seen since the 1950-53 Korean War, including war threats, missile launches and a nuclear test that puts it closer to having an atomic bomb.

In New York, the United States and Japan circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to key council members that condemned Pyongyang's second nuclear test over the weekend and called for strict enforcement of U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea after its first atomic test in October 2006.

A vote in the full 15-nation Security Council could come as early as next week, diplomats said.

The joint command for the 28,500 U.S. troops that support South Korea's 670,000 soldiers has raised its alert a notch to signify a serious threat from North Korea, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

It is the highest threat level since the North's only other nuclear test in October 2006.

North Korea could be set for further provocations that include additional short-range missile tests off its west coast, the South's Yonhap news agency on Wednesday night quoted an unnamed government source as saying.

Analysts said the sabre-rattling may be partly aimed at firming leader Kim Jong-il's grip on power and helping him draw up succession plans in Asia's only communist dynasty after a suspected stroke in August raised questions over his rule.