A South Korean special police force personnel reacts during an anti-terrorism drill against possible... 
(AP)
Tensions over North Korea's actions come as its leader Kim Jong Il has reportedly been laying the groundwork to hand power over to one of his sons, and as two American journalists were imprisoned for illegal border crossing and hostile acts.
Analysts predict the North will continue its provocative acts in an attempt to command world attention that can lead to economic benefits.
"I think what North Korea will continue to do is ratchet up the tension," said Brad Glosserman, another analyst at the CSIS think tank. "It needs that attention to get the concessions from other countries ... as well as to demonstrate its strength to domestic constituencies."
President Barack Obama has vowed the U.S. won't reward North Korea's bad behavior, and his administration has been pressing China — a key North Korean ally — to enforce the new U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Obama said he was trying to "keep a door open" for North Korea to return to international nuclear disarmament talks, but the country must abandon its nuclear weapons programs before it can join the world community.
He also said there could be more sanctions in store for the North for its May nuclear test, saying the implementation of U.N. sanctions is "going very well."
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Associated Press writers Kwang-tae Kim, Hyung-jin Kim and Kelly Olsen in Seoul, Alexa Olesen in Beijing, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Mike Eckel in Moscow and Pamela Hess in Washington contributed to this report.
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