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Pyongyang threatens war over maneuvers
Source: Agencies |
February 28, 2011, Monday
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NORTH Korea threatened yesterday to attack South Korea and the United States, as the allies prepared to start annual joint military drills - -maneuvers that -the North says are a rehearsal for an invasion.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula rose sharply last year over two deadly attacks - the sinking of a South Korean naval ship blamed on North Korea and a North Korean artillery barrage that killed four people on a front-line South Korean island. North Korea denies it was involved in the ship sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.
Yesterday, Pyongyang used harsh words against South Korea and the US, calling their joint drills a -"dangerous military scheme."
"Our military and people will take stern military countermeasures against the American imperialists and the (South Korean) traitors' group, because they are challenging us with aggressive military action," the North's military said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
It accused South Korea and the US of plotting to launch "limited war" and topple Pyongyang's government. If provoked, North Korea will start a "full-scale" war and turn Seoul into a "sea of fire," the statement said.
Earlier yesterday North Korea's military warned that it would fire directly at South Korean border towns and destroy them if Seoul continued to allow activists to launch propaganda leaflets toward North Korea.
In a separate statement carried by KCNA, it accused South Korean activists and lawmakers of flying balloons carrying hundreds of thousands of leaflets critical of North Korea's government, one-dollar bills, DVDs containing corrupt animation files and other materials on North Korea's most important national holiday, an apparent reference to leader Kim Jong Il's 69th birthday, which was on February 16.
The South Korean Defense Ministry confirmed it had received the warning. A ministry official said South Korea's military keeps a close watch on North Korean military movement.
Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told parliament last Friday that North Korea may launch new attacks this spring and that South Korea's military was ready to cope with any type of hostilities.
South Korea and the US launch drills today aiming at rehearsing how to respond to any potential emergency on the Korean peninsula.
About 12,800 US troops and some 200,000 South Korean soldiers and reservists take part in the drills, which will last 11 days and involve computer war games and live-firing exercises and other field training.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula rose sharply last year over two deadly attacks - the sinking of a South Korean naval ship blamed on North Korea and a North Korean artillery barrage that killed four people on a front-line South Korean island. North Korea denies it was involved in the ship sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.
Yesterday, Pyongyang used harsh words against South Korea and the US, calling their joint drills a -"dangerous military scheme."
"Our military and people will take stern military countermeasures against the American imperialists and the (South Korean) traitors' group, because they are challenging us with aggressive military action," the North's military said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
It accused South Korea and the US of plotting to launch "limited war" and topple Pyongyang's government. If provoked, North Korea will start a "full-scale" war and turn Seoul into a "sea of fire," the statement said.
Earlier yesterday North Korea's military warned that it would fire directly at South Korean border towns and destroy them if Seoul continued to allow activists to launch propaganda leaflets toward North Korea.
In a separate statement carried by KCNA, it accused South Korean activists and lawmakers of flying balloons carrying hundreds of thousands of leaflets critical of North Korea's government, one-dollar bills, DVDs containing corrupt animation files and other materials on North Korea's most important national holiday, an apparent reference to leader Kim Jong Il's 69th birthday, which was on February 16.
The South Korean Defense Ministry confirmed it had received the warning. A ministry official said South Korea's military keeps a close watch on North Korean military movement.
Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told parliament last Friday that North Korea may launch new attacks this spring and that South Korea's military was ready to cope with any type of hostilities.
South Korea and the US launch drills today aiming at rehearsing how to respond to any potential emergency on the Korean peninsula.
About 12,800 US troops and some 200,000 South Korean soldiers and reservists take part in the drills, which will last 11 days and involve computer war games and live-firing exercises and other field training.
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