So this week, reporters and Korea watchers are pouring ink over what could happen to Bae and how he got himself in the knotty situation. Was he caught handing out Bibles in a country nervous about foreign Christian influences? Will he go to prison for life? Get the death penalty?

And the big-picture questions. Will Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter make a visit to secure his release? Will Bae be used as a bargaining chip in nuclear negotiations?

The problem is, in the strange absence of any specific statement from North Korean media, we really have no idea why Bae is being put on trial. On Saturday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) only said this:

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Kicking off four days of talks in an East Asia beset by increasing North Korean threats, Kerry told reporters in Seoul that Pyongyang and its enigmatic young leader would only increase their isolation if they launched the missile that American officials believe has a range of some 2,500 miles — or enough to reach the U.S. territory of Guam.

"If Kim Jong Un decides to launch a missile, whether it's across the Sea of Japan or some other direction, he will be choosing willfully to ignore the entire international community," Kerry told reporters. "And it will be a provocation and unwanted act that will raise people's temperatures."

Kerry said the test would be a "huge mistake" for Kim.

"It will further isolate his country and further isolate his people who are desperate for food and not missile launches," he warned. "They are desperate for opportunity and not for a leader to flex his muscles."

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Earlier April 8th, South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said to a parliamentary committee that there were signs of nuclear test preparation at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, according to Voice of America, although he wouldn't elaborate further.

"We found there had been no unusual movements that indicated it wanted to carry out a nuclear test," a Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said later that day via Radio Free Europe, backtracking from the earlier comments.

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The official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to put off the long-planned Minuteman 3 test until sometime next month because of concerns the launch could be misinterpreted and exacerbate the Korean crisis. Hagel made the decision Friday, the official said.

The test was not connected to the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military exercises that have been going on in that region and have stoked North Korean anger and fueled an escalation in threatening actions and rhetoric.

North Korea's military warned earlier this week that it was authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons. And South Korean officials say North Korea has moved at least one missile with "considerable range" to its east coast - possibly the untested Musudan missile, believed to have a range of 1,800 miles. U.S. officials have said the missile move suggests a North Korean launch could be imminent and thus fuels worries in the region.

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It’s gone like this. A state of war has been declared between North Korea and the United States by Kim Jong-un, the North’s 27-year-old hereditary dictator. North Korea has battle plans to attack Washington and other U.S. cities, including, of all places, Austin, Texas, with atomic weapons. The Kaesong Industrial Zone, the last demonstration of North and South Korean cooperation just above the DMZ, has been temporarily shut down after the North refused entry to South Koreans who work there. Pyongyang has threatened to restart its Yongbyon nuclear power plant, mothballed since 2007 under a nuclear proliferation agreement with Washington and other regional powers, and begin producing bomb-ready plutonium again. And on Thursday, North Korea was allegedly moving missiles to its east coast facing Japan.

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Over just a few days, he has unilaterally nullified the 1953 armistice with South Korea; vowed to restart his uranium enriching and plutonium programs; and issued "final approval" for "merciless" nuclear strikes against the United States.

He taunted South Korea's new leader, and shut down the Kaesong industrial estate, which served as unusual example of cooperation between the two Koreas. Most recently, he transported a missile to the east coast — either in an attempt to lob a warhead in America's general direction (he lacks the capability to actually hit the continent), or more probably, to test it, perhaps on the April 15 birthday of deceased founding father Kim Il Sung. "Is there a more bizarre and frightening figure in the world today than North Korea's young, impetuous and untested leader?" writes GlobalPost senior foreign affairs columnist Nicholas Burns.

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But a missile attack isn't as likely as you'd think, despite the war rhetoric.

Analysts here in Seoul seem to agree that, if the press reports are true, the pariah state is probably prepping a test of the medium-range BM-25 Musudan missile. The device could, in theory, reach US bases in Japan and Guam.

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The KCNA news agency announced the plan on April 2nd, saying that North Korea would reopen shuttered facilities, including the 5-megawatt Yongbyon reactor, which was closed in 2007.

Yongbyon served as a source of plutonium used for weapons, noted the BBC.

Authorities added the nuclear power would be used for both electric and military uses, as Kim Jong Un stressed that increasing North Korea's nuclear capacities would also increase its economic development.

The move comes after North Korea carried out its third nuclear test in February, which was quickly met with international condemnation and UN sanctions.

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During an interview on "TruNews," host Rick Wiles brought up his theory that there might be a connection between the two, considering the Supreme Court is hearing arguments about DOMA and Prop 8 at the exact same time that Kim Jong Un is making threats. "Could our slide in immorality be what is unleashing this madman over here in Asia to punish us?" Wiles asked.

Luter replied that though he's “not that strong in prophecy,” he's not ruling out the  possibility. “I would not be surprised that at the time when we are debating same-sex marriage, at a time when we're debating whether or not we should have gays leading the Boy Scout movement, I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that we have a mad man in Asia who is saying some of the things that he’s saying,” Luter said.

Here's the audio, via Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch:

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The North's official KCNA news agency said Kim Jong-un signed off on the order at a late-night meeting of top generals.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), he called the appearance of the two B-2 Spirit bombers an "ultimatum" and told the generals:

"The time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists in view of the prevailing situation."

Targets include US bases in Hawaii, Guam, South Korea and Japan.

Kim Jong-un "finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the KPA [Korean People's Army], ordering them to be stand-by for fire so that they may strike any time," the KCNA report said.

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The statement Thursday by U.S. Forces Korea is an unusual confirmation. It follows an earlier U.S. announcement that nuclear-capable B-52 bombers participated in ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.

The U.S. says the B-2 stealth bombers flew from a U.S. air base and dropped munitions on a South Korean island range before returning home.

The announcement will likely draw a strong response from Pyongyang. North Korea sees the military drills as part of a U.S. plot to invade and becomes particularly upset about U.S. nuclear activities in the region.

Washington and Seoul say they the annual drills are routine and defensive.

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"The Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army solemnly declared that... Due to the reckless acts of the enemies, the north-south military communications which were set up for dialogue and cooperation between the north and the south has already lost its significance," said North Korea's Central News Agency, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea is concerned that the North's decision to cut the hotline will affect the operations of the Kaesong industrial park, a joint operation between North and South.

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The plan lays out how the allies will communicate with each other and react to any future aggression from North Korea.

It provides for a joint response from the two countries, even if there is a limited attack from the North.

North and South Korea are still technically at war after signing an armistice, not peace treaty. Previously, help from the US and its 28,000 troops in South Korea was optional in minor skirmishes.

In the event of a large-scale resumption of war, according to GlobalPost senior correspondent in Korea, Geoffrey Cain, the US will assume operational command over all forces in South Korea.

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The discovery did not erase suspicions that North Korea was to blame. IP addresses are unique to each computer connected to the Internet, but they can easily be manipulated by hackers operating anywhere in the world. The investigation into Wednesday’s attack could take weeks.

By Thursday, only one of the six targets, Shinhan Bank, was back online and operating regularly. It could be next week before the other companies have fully recovered.

North Korea has threatened Seoul and Washington in recent days over U.N. sanctions imposed for its Feb. 12 nuclear test, and over ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills. It also threatened revenge after blaming Seoul and Washington for an Internet shutdown that disrupted its own network last week.

North Korea “will never remain a passive onlooker to the enemies’ cyberattacks,” state media said last week in a commentary. “The U.S. and its allies should be held wholly accountable for the ensuing consequences.”

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The London Telegraph reported that the alleged murder plot may have been the work of a faction loyal to Kim Yong Chol, a four-star general demoted last year before being restored to his previous rank and rehabilitated.

The Telegraph cited the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper as reporting that an exchange of gunfire in Pyongyang last November may have signaled the attempt.

The Express, meantime, quoted a source as saying:

"It appeared that disgruntled people inside the North moved before the time of the demotion of Kim Yong Chol."

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