North Korea Deploys 50 Submarines To Confront South

Nearly 50 of North Korea's submarines have left their home port in the wake of escalating tension with South Korea.

South Korea has detected "unusual movement from North Korean submarines, in that they have left their bases,” an official from South Korea's defense ministry said.

Moreover, North Korea has doubled artillery power along the border." The official was quoted as saying by WantChinaTimes today.

Around 70% that is roughly 50 submarines have left port, which is more than 10 times the usual number and the largest number since the Korean War armistice in 1953, another South Korean official said.

About10 amphibious landing vessels from the North had also been deployed to a base around 60 kilometers from the border, according to South Korean media.

Seoul and Washington are observing the situation on the peninsula. They are consulting on when to deploy American B-52 bombers and nuclear submarines, a spokesperson from the South Korean defense ministry said Monday.

On Saturday, the residents of Yanji, the seat of the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture in China's eastern Jilin province, spotted tanks and armored vehicles from the People's Liberation Army heading towards the country's border with North Korea.

North Korea has begun deploying submarines and amphibious vessels to the border with the South as a second night of talks have failed to cool escalating tensions.

Two rounds and more than 16 hours of discussions at the Panmunjom village inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ), North Korea, following injury of Two South Korean soldiers due to mine attack from the North Korea.

After the incident, the South began broadcasting anti-DPRK propaganda through loudspeakers across the DMZ, something not done by either side since 2004.

The crisis escalated Thursday when the North fired four shells across the border in retaliation against the broadcasts, with the South responding with a barrage of 29 artillery rounds.