Is Kim Jong Un really "gearing up for full scale war"? You might think so having read South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday, basing its main claim on "a source well informed on North Korea".

Penned by Lee Young-jong, author of a recent article on the defection of a senior North Korean elite to Russia, the JoongAng suggested that Kim Jong Un has been preparing North Korea’s "combat readiness for an all-out war with South Korea" since assuming power in late 2011.