In an uncompromising signal aimed at Pyongyang, the government of South Korea is vowing to prosecute those who violate human rights in North Korea if and when the two countries are reunited.
North Korean state media is encouraging citizens to undertake winter climbs of Mount Baekdu, a peak venerated by Koreans ancient and modern, North and South.
As tensions surge in the wake of Tuesday's reconnaissance satellite launch by North Korea, Pyongyang killed off an inter-Korean conflict-prevention mechanism on Thursday.
The third time may have been a charm as North Korea said it had successfully placed its first military spy satellite into orbit after two previous failures, on the same day a U.S. carrier strike group docked in South Korea, two developments that underscored evolving tensions in Northeast Asia.