North Korea in threat to cancel 1953 cease-fire
Source: Agencies |
March 6, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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North Korea yesterday vowed to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War, citing a US-led push for UN sanctions over its recent nuclear test and ongoing US-South Korean joint military drills.
The Korean People's Army Supreme Command warned of "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula and of an indigenous, "precision nuclear striking tool."
In its statement, Pyongyang threatens to block a communications line between North Korea and the United States at the border village separating the two Koreas, and to nullify the 60-year-old Korean War armistice agreement next Monday, when two weeks of US-South Korean military drills will draw 10,000 South Korean and 3,500 US forces.
Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and rocket launches, and the subsequent call for UN punishment, have increased already high animosity between North Korea and the US and South Korea.
The US and others worry that the nuclear test takes North Korea a big step closer toward its goal of having nuclear-armed missiles that can reach America, and condemn its nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Koreans.
North Korea says its nuclear program is a response to US hostility that dates back to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically still in a state of war.
Even amid the tension, however, North Korea has welcomed high-profile American visitors, including former basketball star Dennis Rodman, who called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy." Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a four-day trip in January.
Yesterday's statement called US-South Korean military drills a "dangerous nuclear war targeted at us."
"We aim to launch surgical strikes at any time and any target without being bounded by the armistice accord and advance our long-cherished wish for national unification," the statement said.
The Korean People's Army Supreme Command warned of "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula and of an indigenous, "precision nuclear striking tool."
In its statement, Pyongyang threatens to block a communications line between North Korea and the United States at the border village separating the two Koreas, and to nullify the 60-year-old Korean War armistice agreement next Monday, when two weeks of US-South Korean military drills will draw 10,000 South Korean and 3,500 US forces.
Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and rocket launches, and the subsequent call for UN punishment, have increased already high animosity between North Korea and the US and South Korea.
The US and others worry that the nuclear test takes North Korea a big step closer toward its goal of having nuclear-armed missiles that can reach America, and condemn its nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Koreans.
North Korea says its nuclear program is a response to US hostility that dates back to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically still in a state of war.
Even amid the tension, however, North Korea has welcomed high-profile American visitors, including former basketball star Dennis Rodman, who called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy." Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a four-day trip in January.
Yesterday's statement called US-South Korean military drills a "dangerous nuclear war targeted at us."
"We aim to launch surgical strikes at any time and any target without being bounded by the armistice accord and advance our long-cherished wish for national unification," the statement said.
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