N Korea appoints new premier

Seventy-four-year-old Pak Pong-Ju was sworn in at the annual meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly, accoridng to reports from North Korea's state news agency the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday.

Pak served as North Korea's prime minister from 2003 to 2007. He was suspended from office in 2006 and subsequently sacked the following year. Reports at the time suggested a government and military backlash when Pak attempted market reforms aiming to provide state companies with greater autonomy and gradually reduce state rationing of food.

The new premier's appointment at the top of North Korea's cabinet was interpreted in some quarters as a sign of the government's desire for him to again play a key role in economic policy making. Pak will replace outgoing premier Choe Yong-Rim.

Parliamentarians also rubber-stamped a law formalizing the country's position as a nuclear weapons state on Monday.

The decree "on consolidating the position of nuclear weapons state for self-defence," drafted by the Workers Party Central Committee on Sunday, passed parliament unanimously. Two laws on space development and the establishment of a state space development bureau were also passed, KCNA said.

South Korea also threatens retaliation

Meanwhile, during a meeting with top officials in Seoul on Monday, South Korea's newly-elected president said any North Korean aggression would be met in kind.

If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," President Park Geun-hye told the defense minister and officials.

On Saturday, Kim Jong Un announced that the neighboring countries had entered "a state of war," declaring that war time protocol would now dictate inter-Korean relations. North Korea would retaliate with a "nuclear war" if provoked by the US or South Korea, he said.

Seoul initially brushed off the rhetoric as "not new," citing the fact that the border remained open to allow South Korean workers to travel to a cooperative industrial zone that employs workers from both countries.

US sends fighter jets to South Korea

Two F-22 Raptor fighter jets arrived at the Osan Air Base, the main US Air Force base in the South, on Sunday to participate in the annual "Foal Eagle" exercise, according to the US military. They were reportedly deployed from a US base in Okinawa, Japan.

Announcing the move the US military command in the South urged North Korea to refrain from taking military action.

"[North Korea] will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the statement said.

The exercise, due to last until April 30, has already seen the US send two nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit stealth bombers on practice runs over South Korea in a display of US support for Seoul.

jlw/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)