North Korea to Military: 'Be Ready for a War'

North Korea is stepping up its saber rattling yet again, placing the country under martial law in the run-up to an imminent nuclear weapon test, reports the Korea JoongAng Daily. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un reportedly gave six orders at an emergency meeting last Saturday, including that "all the frontline and central units should be ready for a war.” South Korean sources in Beijing, along with satellite images, indicate that the opening at the North's nuclear test site has been sealed in readiness for the test.

While the North has been promising a new nuclear test, its third, since the UN Security Council condemned Pyongyang for its ballistic rocket launch in December, the latest comments from Pyongyang indicate the new test could come much sooner than originally anticipated, reports the Telegraph. Experts had previously thought the test might come on Feb. 16, the birthday of Kim's late father, Kim Jong Il, or Feb. 25, the inauguration of South Korea's new president Park Geun-hye. (More North Korea stories.)