North threatens military conflict

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North threatens military conflict

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In this picture released by North Korea’s official news agency KCNA yesterday, North Koreans celebrate what the North says is a successful second nuclear test in a Pyongyang People’s Rally at the Pyongyang Gym on Tuesday. [REUTERS]

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula rapidly escalated yesterday as North Korea threatened military action against the South following Seoul’s decision to join a U.S.-backed anti-nuclear proliferation program.

Condemning Seoul for joining the Proliferation Security Initiative, the North said it is no longer bound by the 1953 Korean War armistice and that the peninsula will soon be “returned to the state of war.” The North’s position was released by the country’s state media.

In the statement from the North’s military spokesman at the border truce village of Panmunjom, Pyongyang said that “any hostile act against our peaceful vessels including search and seizure will be considered an unpardonable infringement on our sovereignty and we will immediately respond with a powerful military strike.”

In the aftermath of North Korea’s second nuclear test on Monday, Seoul announced Tuesday its full membership in the PSI.

The North also said its military can no longer guarantee the safety of both U.S. and South Korean military vessels as well as civilian ships in the waters west of the peninsula.

The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland also issued a statement in the afternoon, claiming that it will counter South Korea’s PSI participation with military action.

Shortly after the North’s first statement, the Unification Ministry held an emergency meeting to assess Pyongyang’s intentions and Seoul’s possible countermeasures.

According to ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung, no disturbance in maritime transportation was detected as of yesterday morning, adding that five North Korean ships were in operation through inter-Korean maritime routes this morning.

The ministry also said about 1,100 South Koreans were staying in North Korea, including those at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and no abnormal signs were detected.

Following the North’s threat of military action, South Korea’s military has beefed up its preparations along the maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

“We cannot elaborate the details, but we have continuously increased countermeasures,” a military official said.

President Lee Myung-bak was briefed about the North Korean military’s statement during a luncheon with foreign affairs experts. He told ministries to handle the situation cool-headedly, the Blue House said.

Signs from the North’s main nuclear facility indicate that Pyongyang has resumed reprocessing activities, an informed diplomatic source said yesterday.

“Intelligence authorities have concluded that it is highly likely the North resumed the activity of its nuclear reprocessing facility,” the source said. “Since mid-April, the storage facilities for spent fuel rods at the Yongbyon nuclear plant have been opened multiple times,” he said. He noted that the rods were from Yongbyon’s main 5-megawatt reactor.

The source also said steam has been detected from Yongbyon since early this month. He continued that chemical transport vehicles were detected near the plant in the middle of this month. “We suspect that the movement is linked to the transportation of nitric acid, a chemical required for nuclear reprocessing,” he said.

The source said North Korea is acting in accordance with its previous announcements. Last month, the North said it will resume nuclear activities at Yongbyon and also warned that it would conduct a nuclear test and test-fire an inter-continental ballistic missile.

The North conducted a nuclear test Monday morning and fired short-range missiles later in the afternoon. More short-range missiles were fired again on Tuesday.

As the North upped the nuclear ante, the Lee administration sought cooperation of the international community. Lee spoke with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the phone at 3:50 p.m. for 20 minutes about the North Korea issue, Blue House spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.

“The Russian president said the international community must react sternly to the North’s provocation,” the spokesman said. “He said Russia is ready to cooperate with South Korea and other countries at the UN Security Council. Medvedev also said governmental talks between Russia and North Korea were stopped [after the nuclear test].”

The Russian leader also agreed with Lee’s stance that a new, strong UN Security Council resolution is necessary, the spokesman said. “The Russian president said the North’s irresponsible action is a danger to world peace and the stability of the Korean Peninsula and promised close cooperation with the South to resolve the situation,” he said.

Since the North’s nuclear test on Monday, Lee has spoken with his Japanese, U.S. and Australian counterparts to discuss coordinated action to counter Pyongyang.

During the luncheon yesterday, President Lee also discussed Korea’s strategy for the June 16 meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. North Korea will be a key issue at the summit, Blue House
officials said. Following the North’s second nuclear test, Washington toughened its stance on Pyongyang, insisting that North Korea will pay a price for continuing provocations in violation of international law.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Ian Kelly, the spokesman of the U.S. State Department, said “Patience, obviously, is not infinite,” and urged the North to “make the right choice and choose to engage constructively.”

According to Reuters, the U.S. Treasury Department is mulling financial sanctions against the North.

Stressing that the Treasury has “broad authority” to block North Korea’s limited access to the international financial system, the unnamed official said, “We are reviewing our options regarding those.”

In 2005, the Treasury once blocked Pyongyang’s access to its assets by blacklisting Banco Delta Asia in Macau over money laundering and illicit financial transactions with the North. The move, however, stalled six-party talks, until the North regained control of its money in 2007.

Another U.S. official also said that the UN Security Council is working on a new resolution to punish the North for its provocation. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the new measure will be “a strong resolution with teeth.”

myoja@joongang.co.kr


By Ser Myo-ja

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