N. Korea threatens war if U.S. pressure persists
Pyongyang says nuke test a success; Japan imposes further sanctions
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:42 a.m. PT Oct 11, 2006
SEOUL, South Korea - Tensions rose along the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday as North Korea warned of physical retaliation for increased U.S. pressure over its reported atomic test, and South Korea discussed preparations for a nuclear attack that could include an expanded conventional arsenal.
North Korea said in its first formal statement since the test that it could respond to U.S. pressure with “physical” measures.
“If the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures,” the North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. The statement didn’t specify what those measures could be.
North Korea’s No. 2 leader threatened in an interview with a Japanese news agency that there would also be more nuclear tests if the United States continued its “hostile attitude.”
Unfazed by North Korea’s latest statements, Japan planned to impose a total ban on North Korean imports and prohibit its ships from entering Japanese ports, a news report said.
The sanctions will also expand restrictions on North Korean nationals entering Japan, the country’s public broadcaster NHK said.
North links testing to U.S.
Even along the razor-wired no-man’s-land separating the divided Koreas, communist troops on the North’s side were more boldly trying to provoke their Southern counterparts: spitting across the demarcation line, making throat-slashing hand gestures, flashing their middle finger and trying to talk to the troops, said U.S. Army Major Jose DeVarona of Fayetteville, N.C., adding that the overall situation was calm.
But it appeared to be business as usual on the streets of North Korea’s capital. Footage taken by AP Television News showed people milling about Kim II Sung square and rehearsing a performance for the 80th anniversary of the “Down with Imperialism Union.”
Kim Yong Nam, second to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, said in an interview with Kyodo News agency that further nuclear testing would hinge on U.S. policy toward the communist government.
“The issue of future nuclear tests is linked to U.S. policy toward our country,” Kim was quoted as saying when asked whether Pyongyang will conduct more nuclear tests.
South Korea’s defense minister said that Seoul could enlarge its conventional arsenal to deal with a potentially nuclear-armed North Korea.
“If North Korea really has the (nuclear) capabilities, we will improve and enlarge the number of conventional weapons as long as it doesn’t violate the principle of denuclearization,” Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told parliament.
“We will supplement (our ability) to conduct precision strikes against storage facilities and intercept delivery means, while also improving the system of having military units and individuals defend themselves,” he said.
North claims success
Scientists and other governments have said Monday’s underground test has yet to be confirmed, with some experts saying the blast was significantly smaller than even the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.
North Korea appeared to be trying to refute that Wednesday, saying in its statement that it “successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions.”
In rare direct criticism of the communist regime from Seoul, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said that the security threat cited by North Korea is exaggerated or nonexistent.
“North Korea says the reason it is pursuing nuclear (weapons) is for its security, but the security threat North Korea speaks of either does not exist in reality, or is very exaggerated,” Roh said, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
He spoke even as South Korea’s military was checking its readiness for nuclear attack, Yonhap said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff told Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung that the military needed an improved ability to respond to such an attack, including state-of-the-art weapons capable of destroying a nuclear missile, the report said.
The top U.S. general in South Korea said that American forces are fully capable of deterring an attack from the North despite the communist nation’s claim of a nuclear test.
“Be assured that the alliance has the forces necessary to deter aggression, and should deterrence fail, decisively defeat any North Korean attack against” South Korea, U.S. Army Gen. B.B. Bell said in a statement to troops. “U.S. forces have been well trained to confront nuclear, biological and chemical threats.”
About 29,500 U.S. troops are deployed in the South, a remnant of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced by a peace treaty.
Region on edge
Bell said the seismic waves detected after the claimed test were still being analyzed and that it had not been yet determined if they indicated a successful nuclear test.
A media report that North Korea may have conducted a second nuclear test rattled nerves Wednesday before the Japanese government said there was no indication that a test had taken place.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported around 8:30 a.m. that unidentified government sources were saying that “tremors” had been detected in North Korea.
South Korean and U.S. seismic monitoring stations said that they hadn’t detected any activity indicating a second test, and White House spokesman Blair Jones said the United States had detected no evidence of additional North Korean testing.
At the United Nations, China agreed to punishment of North Korea but not severe sanctions backed by the U.S., which it said would be too crushing for its impoverished communist ally.
Beijing is seen as having the greatest outside leverage on North Korea as a traditional ally and top provider of badly needed economic and energy aid.
The United States asked the U.N. Security Council to impose a partial trade embargo including strict limits on Korea’s weapons exports and freezing of related financial assets.
All imports would be inspected too, to filter materials that could be made into nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
Pyongyang has demanded one-on-one talks with Washington and has threatened to launch a nuclear-tipped missile if the U.S. doesn’t comply.
Washington insists on the so-called six-party format, where Russia, China, South Korea and Japan have joined the United States in talking to North Korea.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15217370/
