South Korea raises diplomatic alert levels citing North Korea threats

South Korea’s foreign ministry raised the terrorism alert level for five diplomatic offices in the region citing intelligence that North Korea may attempt to harm its officials.

South Korea's foreign ministry on May 02 raised the terrorism alert level for five diplomatic offices in the region citing intelligence that North Korea may attempt to harm its officials.

The five locations include Seoul's embassies in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, as well as consulates in Vladivostok, Russia, and Shenyang, China, the ministry said in a statement.

The terrorism alert level was raised from Attention to Alert, the second highest among South Korea's four classifications, which indicates the chances of an attack are strong, the foreign ministry said.

Separately, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it had a "number of indications that North Korea is preparing to carry out terrorist attacks against our diplomatic officers and citizens," but did not elaborate on the nature of the threats.

Pyongyang has dispatched agents to those countries to tighten surveillance of the South Korean missions, the NIS said.

The North Korean embassy in London did not respond to repeated phone calls for requests for comment.

The North's government-controlled media has criticized allegations of terrorism against it as U.S.-led efforts to discredit opponents of Washington.