North Korea warns US, South to cancel war drill
Source: Agencies |
July 23, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NORTH Korea warned the United States and South Korea yesterday to call off military exercises scheduled for this weekend and to back off any new sanctions against it or risk placing the entire region in danger.
The warning issued on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, came as tensions on the peninsula simmer over the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors.
"Amid growing concerns by the international community, South Korea and the United States have announced they would hold joint naval exercises," said Ri Tong Il, a North Korean spokesman. "Such a move presents a grave threat to the peace and security not only to the Korean peninsula, but to the region."
On Wednesday, Washington said it would impose new sanctions aimed at stifling the North's nuclear activities.
Ri said any new sanctions would be in violation of a United Nations Security Council statement approved earlier this month that condemned the sinking of the warship Cheonan but stopped short of directly assigning blame.
"If the US is really interested in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, it should halt the military exercises and sanctions that destroy the mood for dialogue," Ri told reporters.
Sanctions mean "escalation of the (US) hostile policy toward North Korea."
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates struck back yesterday at the North's criticism of the military drills. "My response to that is that I condemn their sinking of the Cheonan," Gates said in Jakarta.
An international investigation blamed the North for the March ship sinking, which has raised tensions on the peninsula. The two Koreas remain in a state of war because a peace treaty was never signed to end their three-year war in the 1950s. Pyongyang cites the presence of 28,500 US troops on South Korean soil as a main reason for building up its atomic program.
North Korea denies any involvement in the sinking, and has asked the UN Command governing the armistice to let the country conduct its own investigation. Military officers from the command and North Korea were to meet along the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula today.
The warning issued on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, came as tensions on the peninsula simmer over the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors.
"Amid growing concerns by the international community, South Korea and the United States have announced they would hold joint naval exercises," said Ri Tong Il, a North Korean spokesman. "Such a move presents a grave threat to the peace and security not only to the Korean peninsula, but to the region."
On Wednesday, Washington said it would impose new sanctions aimed at stifling the North's nuclear activities.
Ri said any new sanctions would be in violation of a United Nations Security Council statement approved earlier this month that condemned the sinking of the warship Cheonan but stopped short of directly assigning blame.
"If the US is really interested in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, it should halt the military exercises and sanctions that destroy the mood for dialogue," Ri told reporters.
Sanctions mean "escalation of the (US) hostile policy toward North Korea."
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates struck back yesterday at the North's criticism of the military drills. "My response to that is that I condemn their sinking of the Cheonan," Gates said in Jakarta.
An international investigation blamed the North for the March ship sinking, which has raised tensions on the peninsula. The two Koreas remain in a state of war because a peace treaty was never signed to end their three-year war in the 1950s. Pyongyang cites the presence of 28,500 US troops on South Korean soil as a main reason for building up its atomic program.
North Korea denies any involvement in the sinking, and has asked the UN Command governing the armistice to let the country conduct its own investigation. Military officers from the command and North Korea were to meet along the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula today.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
