The Pentagon views the land mines deployed in Korea as the major deterrent to a North Korean attack on South Korea, where some 37, 000 American soldiers are stationed.

CNN: U.S. agrees to soften stance on land-mine ban

He did report to duty to a U.S. Army Base in Japan (ironic again, since U.S. bases are there to protect Japan from North Korean attack) where he was court-martialed (in his sixties, he wore again his private uniform), spent time in the stockade, and dishonorably discharged.

FORBES: Viewing North Korea from Japan's Perspective

Prosecutors in South Korea say North Korean hackers were behind an attack that paralysed a leading bank last month.

BBC: North Korea 'behind South Korean bank cyber hack'

Senior South Korean officials, who met with Secretary of State John Kerry in Seoul on Friday, said their government also was willing to resume humanitarian assistance to the North following weeks of escalating threats by North Korean leader Kim Jong Eun to attack American and allied targets in North Asia and the Pacific.

WSJ: U.S., South Korea Offer North Talks, and a Warning

It was the first direct artillery attack since the 1950-1953 Korean war.

BBC: Q&A: Kaesong Industrial Complex

U.S. nuclear submarines ply the region's waters, however, and Washington makes clear that its so-called nuclear "umbrella" over South Korea is meant to deter an attack on its ally by North Korea, whose 1950 invasion ignited the three-year Korean War.

NPR: NKorea: Cold War History With US Justifies Nukes

As a vital ally to South Korea since the Korean war in the 1950s, the United States has pledged military backing to Seoul in the event of an attack by North Korea.

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