S. Korea warns North

South Korea’s military said it will strike back at North Korea and target its top leadership if Pyongyang launches a threatened attack in response to what it says are “hostile” drills between US and South Korean forces. One of North Korea’s top generals, in a rare appearance on state TV on Tuesday, said Pyongyang had torn up its armistice deal with Washington and threatened military action against the US and South Korea if the drills continued. The military exercises began on March 1 and run until April 30. North Korea is gearing up to expand its own military drills and may be preparing to test-fire short-to-medium-range missiles by banning flights and sailing off its coast, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said, quoting South Korean government sources. “The North’s military... is preparing large-scale combined military exercises so it may have blocked off the areas for nautical firing or fighter jet firing exercises,” Yonhap quoted a South Korean government source as saying. “But the firing of missiles cannot be ruled out.” The South’s Defence Ministry and office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff could not confirm that report, but South Korean officials have said the North is...