North Korean Leader Orders Military to Prepare for Combat

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told the military to be combat-ready in a message that coincided with South Korea’s announcement that it blamed his regime for the sinking of a warship, a dissident group said.

Kim’s order was broadcast on May 20 by O Kuk Ryol, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, according to the website of North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, a Seoul- based group run by defectors from the communist country.

The Korean won weakened 3 percent against the dollar and the Kospi stock index dropped to the lowest in more than three months. The report added t