All government embassies have been instructed to evacuate staff from Pyongyang after dictator Kim Jong-un warned he could not 'guarantee the safety of foreigners.'

The rogue communist state issued a deadline of April 10 to every government that is represented in North Korea in a dramatic new escalation of the nuclear crisis.

As tensions escalate in the region, Pyongyang released footage of Kim Jong-un joining in with some target practice during a military drill. The Communist leader was seen brandishing a gun and looking at shots on a human-sized target mark as well as using his binoculars.

 

 

 

 

Advice for tourists is set to change after North Korea moved a second missile to its east coast, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Today the British Foreign Office confirmed it had been told its staff were at risk while Russia said it was in 'close contact with the U.S, China and South Korea' about airlifting workers out.

But it said that it has 'no immediate plans to withdraw' Britain's embassy in Pyongyang and condemned 'provocations' by the North Korean government.

About two dozen countries have embassies in North Korea - the U.S. doesn’t currently have diplomatic relations with North Korea and the State Department told MailOnline it doesn’t have a figure on the number of Americans who may be in the country.

U.S. citizens in the country are likely to include adventure seeking tourists and some defectors and prisoners who remained following the end of the Korean War in the 1950s. Sweden acts as the protecting power of U.S. interests in North Korea for consular matters. 

 

 

'Our actions thus far have had their intended effect: they've shown our deterrence capability and our willingness to defend South Korea. We always make adjustment and if going quiet for a short period of time gives the North Koreans space to dial back their rhetoric, fine,' said one U.S. official.

U.S. officials say they do not see a conflict with North Korea as imminent.

And they have told U.S. allies Pyongyang's threats of war appear to be just rhetoric, according to U.N. diplomats.

Washington still plans to forge ahead with joint military exercises with South Korea, which Pyongyang has branded a 'rehearsal for invasion,' said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

This includes an amphibious assault drill by the United States and South Korea at the end of April.

The exercises, named 'Foal Eagle,' began on March 1 and will end on April 30.

'It's not so much that we're dialing back the exercises. We may not be as public about it,' the official said.

Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro has published his first column in nearly nine months, urging restraint on the Korean Peninsula.
In the brief piece, Castro writes of the wider impact that a nuclear war could unleash in Asia and beyond.

He says Havana has always been and will continue to be an ally to North Korea, but asks it to consider the interests of its friends.

And he says if war breaks out, it will result in images that paint President Barack Obama as 'the most sinister figure in U.S. history.'

Western officials on Thursday confirmed that North Korea has moved a rocket, apparently a medium-range missile known as a Musudan or Nodong B, to its east coast.

 

Experts said it was unclear if the missile was moved as a menacing gesture or in preparation for a test firing.

U.S. officials said that they suspect that North Korea may be preparing to test the medium range missile - which would severely escalate tensions in the region.

They said that, two days ago surveillance satellites detected a train moving a Musudan mobile launcher in addition to the fuel and equipment needed for a missile launch.

Worryingly, they said it is possible that as many as two missiles might be readied for launch because more components than necessary for a single one were identified.

Currently the U.S. is trying to locate the location on the eastern coast where the mobile launcher and missile components are currently situated.

However, one U.S. official said that North Korea has not provided any notice to mariners regarding any upcoming launches - something they have done during previous missile tests.

In addition, there is concern as to how Japan will react if a North Korean missile were to fly over its territory as placing the Musudan on the eastern coast indicates a likely trajectory over Japan.

 

Last December, when North Korea launched a Unha 3 missile, the Japanese government gave its military orders to shoot down any missile headed over Japanese territory.

Analysts are anxiously looking ahead to April 15, the birthday of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founder and the grandfather of its current leader, Kim Jong-un. The anniversary is a time of mass celebrations, nationalist fervor and sometimes demonstrations of military prowess.

Last week, in a pointed message to Pyongyang, the U.S. military command in South Korea announced a first-of-its-kind practice bombing drill by B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea.

Two of the nuclear-capable, bat-winged planes flew 37 1/2-hours from their U.S. base to drop dummy munitions on a South Korean range, and then returned home.

A second U.S. official acknowledged there had been some debate at lower levels within the administration about the B-2 flight, given its potential to agitate Pyongyang. But the idea did not run into opposition in higher-level discussions, the official said.