NKorea says to take 'every measure' to protect itself

NUKEWARS

US rejects fresh North Korean charges
The United States on Wednesday dismissed fresh North Korean charges that US-South Korean military exercises amounted to war preparations, accusing Pyongyang of stoking more regional tensions. North Korea's foreign ministry described the annual ongoing drill involving tens of thousands of troops as "nuclear war exercises designed to mount a pre-emptive attack," and vowed to take "every necessary measure to protect itself." But State Department spokesman Robert Wood firmly rejected the charges. "They're baseless. They're nonsense, frankly," Wood told reporters. "These exercises which take place, as you know, annually, are not a threat to the North," he said. North Korea's "bellicose rhetoric is not helpful, it can only increase tensions in the region," he added. "And what we want to see happen is we want to see the North comply with its international obligations with regard to the six-party framework." The United States has been involved in negotiations with the two Koreas, Japan, China and Russia aimed at scrapping North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for energy aid under a landmark six-party agreement signed in 2007. The negotiations have deadlocked over a dispute with North Korea over how to verify disarmament. Wood said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will likely discuss the six-party talks and other North Korean issues during her meeting here Wednesday with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. "We're still very interested in seeing the North come back to the table so that we can have further discussions that will eventually get us to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he added. "Verification is a critical element of this process," he said, recalling that the North has submitted more than 18,000 documents related to its nuclear program. "That needs to be verified," the spokesman said. "And what we tried to do with the other parties is to come up with a verification protocol that would allow us to be able to, indeed, measure what the North has submitted and to see whether it meets the requirements of the international community," he said. "That hasn't happened yet. But we're committed to this process," said Wood.

by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) March 11, 2009
North Korea vowed Wednesday to take "every necessary measure" to protect itself as it issued a fresh warning that an ongoing US-South Korean military exercise could trigger a war.

The communist state says the March 9-20 exercise, which involves tens of thousands of troops, is aimed at launching a "second Korean War" while Seoul and Washington insist it is a routine annual defensive drill.

Pyongyang Monday placed its 1.2 million-member military on combat alert, cut military phone and fax lines to South Korea, and warned that any attempt to block what it calls an upcoming satellite launch would spark conflict.

On Wednesday its foreign ministry described the drill as "nuclear war exercises designed to mount a pre-emptive attack" and said more troops and equipment had been mobilised than in previous years.

"This situation hardens the will of the DPRK (North Korea) to bolster up its defence capability in every way, no matter what others may say," it said.

"The DPRK, exposed to the potential threat of the US and its allied forces, will take every necessary measure to protect its sovereignty," a ministry spokesman told official media without elaborating.

The exercise began at a time when "the situation has grown so tense that a war may break out any moment," the North added.

"No one can vouch that the US and the South Korean puppet bellicose forces will not play with fire against the DPRK while staging such dangerous war exercises."

In an unusual attack specifically against the new US administration, the North accused it of "working hard to infringe upon the sovereignty of the DPRK by force of arms" and of "seriously interfering in its internal affairs."

It gave no details. During her Asia trip last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touched on the sensitive issue of succession in North Korea.

Analysts suspect the North, which tested an atomic weapon in 2006, is trying to strengthen its hand in future nuclear-disarmament negotiations with Washington.

Seoul and Washington officials believe the real purpose of any satellite launch would be to test a long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which could be fitted with a warhead.

The new US intelligence chief, Dennis Blair, said he believed the North is indeed planning a satellite launch, but noted that the technology involved is "indistinguishable from intercontinental ballistic missiles."

"I tend to believe that the North Koreans announced that they are going to do a space launch, and I believe that that's what they intend," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.

Blair said that if a three-stage space launch vehicle worked, it could reach not only Alaska and Hawaii but parts of the other 48 US states.

Seoul and Washington say a launch for any purpose would breach a UN resolution passed after a previous and unsuccessful Taepodong-2 test in 2006.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan said Wednesday it would also harm six-nation talks on denuclearising the North.

"Irrespective of whether it is a satellite or a missile, such a launch will constitute a breach of the UN resolution 1718 and... hurt the six-party process," he said in a speech.

Kim Yeon-Chul, director of the Hankyoreh Peace Research Institute, said Wednesday's statement means the North is likely to go ahead with a launch.

Kim told AFP the North wants to expand the agenda of future negotiations with Washington "to include not only its nuclear programmes and missiles but military situations on the Korean peninsula as well."

Pyongyang is also angry at South Korea's conservative government, which scrapped its predecessors' policy of offering virtually unconditional aid.

However, on Tuesday Pyongyang reopened the border to South Koreans working at a joint industrial estate -- one day after effectively shutting the frontier by cutting military communications.

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

SUPERPOWERS

Russia sees 'new page' in US ties: Medvedev

Moscow (AFP) March 11, 2009
President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday predicted a "new page" in Russia-US relations under Barack Obama, amid reports Moscow is shelving a missile delivery to Iran that risked irking Washington.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement