Kim threatens to 'strike' S. Korean island
Source: AFP |
March 13, 2013, Wednesday
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NORTH Korea leader Kim Jong-Un threatened to "wipe out" a South Korean island as Pyongyang came under new economic fire yesterday from US sanctions.
Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen to their highest level for years, with North Korea threatening nuclear war in response to UN sanctions imposed after its third atomic test last month.
It has also announced its unilateral shredding of the 60-year-old Korean War armistice and non-aggression pacts with Seoul in protest at a joint South Korean-US military exercise that began on Monday.
On a visit on Monday to frontline artillery units, Kim Jong-Un briefed officers on their mission "to strike and wipe out the enemies" on Baengnyeong and turn the island into a "sea of fire."
"Once an order is issued, you should break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like," Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency yesterday.
South Korea's border island of Baengnyeong has around 5,000 civilian residents.
An administrative official on Baengnyeong, Kim Young-Gu, said civilian emergency shelters on the island had been fully stocked and all village councils put on high alert.
"It's not like there's a mass exodus of panicked islanders to the mainland. But to be honest with you, we're a bit scared," he said.
The disputed sea border off the west coast was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.
Residents on a number of frontline islands have reportedly taken to sleeping in their clothes in preparation for a night-time alert.
South Korea said yesterday it refused to recognize North Korea's move to unilaterally scrap the 60-year-old Korean War armistice, and urged Pyongyang to row back on its recent warlike rhetoric.
"Unilateral abrogation or termination of the armistice agreement is not allowed under its regulations or according to international law," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young said.
Voiding the armistice theoretically paves the way for a resumption of hostilities. The two Koreas never signed a formal peace treaty after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended.
Cho stressed the cease-fire accord remained valid and that South Korea would "resolutely" thwart any attempt by the North to have it nullified.
"We demand North Korea withdraw remarks threatening stability and peace on the Korean peninsula and in the region," Cho added.
Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said the North was trying to exert "psychological pressure" on South Korea, and was expected to launch full-scale military maneuvers in the coming days.
"If the North provokes us, we will respond in ways that will cause them more harm," he said.
The US on Monday slapped sanctions on North Korea's primary foreign exchange bank and four senior officials.
Past sanctions have failed to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program, but the international community hopes measures targeting financial lifelines can slow down the process and curb proliferation.
Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen to their highest level for years, with North Korea threatening nuclear war in response to UN sanctions imposed after its third atomic test last month.
It has also announced its unilateral shredding of the 60-year-old Korean War armistice and non-aggression pacts with Seoul in protest at a joint South Korean-US military exercise that began on Monday.
On a visit on Monday to frontline artillery units, Kim Jong-Un briefed officers on their mission "to strike and wipe out the enemies" on Baengnyeong and turn the island into a "sea of fire."
"Once an order is issued, you should break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like," Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency yesterday.
South Korea's border island of Baengnyeong has around 5,000 civilian residents.
An administrative official on Baengnyeong, Kim Young-Gu, said civilian emergency shelters on the island had been fully stocked and all village councils put on high alert.
"It's not like there's a mass exodus of panicked islanders to the mainland. But to be honest with you, we're a bit scared," he said.
The disputed sea border off the west coast was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.
Residents on a number of frontline islands have reportedly taken to sleeping in their clothes in preparation for a night-time alert.
South Korea said yesterday it refused to recognize North Korea's move to unilaterally scrap the 60-year-old Korean War armistice, and urged Pyongyang to row back on its recent warlike rhetoric.
"Unilateral abrogation or termination of the armistice agreement is not allowed under its regulations or according to international law," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young said.
Voiding the armistice theoretically paves the way for a resumption of hostilities. The two Koreas never signed a formal peace treaty after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended.
Cho stressed the cease-fire accord remained valid and that South Korea would "resolutely" thwart any attempt by the North to have it nullified.
"We demand North Korea withdraw remarks threatening stability and peace on the Korean peninsula and in the region," Cho added.
Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said the North was trying to exert "psychological pressure" on South Korea, and was expected to launch full-scale military maneuvers in the coming days.
"If the North provokes us, we will respond in ways that will cause them more harm," he said.
The US on Monday slapped sanctions on North Korea's primary foreign exchange bank and four senior officials.
Past sanctions have failed to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program, but the international community hopes measures targeting financial lifelines can slow down the process and curb proliferation.
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