North Korean tensions escalated Saturday when the troubled nation announced 'a state of war' against South Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has threatened to "dissolve" the U.S. (petersnoopy/Flickr)

"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency said, according to Reuters.

North and South Korea have been technically in a state of war since the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. The war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. According to CNN, the North Korean army declared the armistice agreement invalid on March 11 of this year.

KCNA said the statement was issued jointly by the North's government, ruling party and other organizations. It also included a vow to "dissolve" the United States mainland.

READ MORE: North Korea Prepares Missiles For Attack On U.S.

According to the New York Times, North Korea also threatened to shut down the Kaesong industrial complex, a group of factories jointly operated by North and South Korea.

The eight-year-old industrial park is located in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and serves as "a crucial source of badly needed cash for the heavily sanctioned North," according to the New York Times. It reportedly "funnels more than $92 million a year in wages for 53,400 North Koreans employed there."

According to Reuters, the complex allows the impoverished North access to $2 billion in trade a year and is the last significant symbol of cooperation between the two countries.

South Korea said Saturday's threats were only the latest in a series of inflammatory statements from the North and should not be cause of alarm.

"North Korea's statement today...is not a new threat but is the continuation of provocative threats,"the South's Unification Ministry, which handles political ties with the North, said in a statement.

The threats are widely seen as a strategy to increase pressure on South Korea and the United States to soften their policies on the North, according to the New York Times.

On Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un signed an order putting the North's missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific.

READ MORE: North Korea Orders Rockets On Standby To Hit U.S. Targets

The order came after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula Thursday in a rare show of force, reported Reuters.

U.S. officials described the flight as a diplomatic move aimed to reassure allies South Korea and Japan, and an effort to move Pyongyang back to nuclear talks, according to Reuters.

Experts across the board agree North Korea does not have the missile capability to reach the U.S. mainland, but if tensions escalate to the point of a full-scale war, U.S. military bases in Asia and the South Pacific are within range. The South Korean capital of Seoul is also a highly vulnerable target.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S. is taking North Korean threats seriously.

"I think their very provocative actions and belligerent tone, it has ratcheted up the danger, and we have to understand that reality," Hagel said Thursday, according to CNN.

READ MORE: U.S. Flies Stealth Bombers Over South Korea

On Wednesday, North Korea shut down its last remaining military hotlines with South Korea.

Reuters reported despite the recent threats, there is not sign of military activity in the North that suggested a full-scale war, according to a South Korean defense ministry official.

For full coverage of North Korea, click here.

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