North Korea warns foreigners to flee ‘sacred war’

North Korea today raised its threats of an imminent conflict by warning foreigners to evacuate South Korea to avoid being dragged into a “merciless, sacred, retaliatory war”.

The warning interrupted normal programming on North Korea’s state television and came amid fears that it may be about to begin a missile test.

Pyongyang has intensified its threats against South Korea, the US and Japan, though analysts say an attack on Seoul is unlikely. Business in the South Korean capital continued as usual and no embassy issued directives to their nationals. A statement attributed to Pyongyang’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said today: “The situation on the Korean peninsula is heading for a thermo-nuclear war. In the event of war, we don’t want foreigners living in South Korea to get hurt.” It urged “all foreign organisations, companies and tourists to work out measures for evacuation”.

Japan deployed US-made Patriot anti-missile batteries at three locations in Tokyo to protect the capital’s 30 million residents.

More than 50,000 North Korean staff today failed to report for work at the Kaesong industrial complex, suspending one of the few points of co-operation between North and South. North Korea has stepped up its rhetoric in response to sanctions punishing it for its third nuclear test on February 12.