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[Black Thunder]

N.Korea stages artillery drill, warns of war
AFP - Saturday, November 27SendIM StoryPrint.SEOUL (AFP) - –
North Korea staged an artillery drill Friday within earshot of a South Korean island shelled earlier this week, and warned that an upcoming US-South Korean naval exercise heightens the risk of war.

Seoul named a former military chief as its new defence minister to try to restore confidence in the armed forces, after their allegedly feeble response to Tuesday's deadly bombardment of Yeonpyeong island.

The distant sound of the latest shelling sent jittery residents of the front-line border island scrambling for air raid shelters.

South Korea said it appeared to be an exercise and no shells landed on its territory.

The top US commander in South Korea, General Walter Sharp, visited Yeonpyeong during the brief panic.

He denounced Tuesday's attack -- which killed two civilians and two marines, injured 18 other people and set buildings ablaze -- as a violation of the armistice which ended the 1950-53 war.

The bombardment was the first to hit civilian areas in the South since the war and sparked widespread anger. Reaction: Outrage among S.Koreans over deadly shelling

Seoul's allegedly weak response also drew strong criticism from newspapers crying out for revenge, and Kim Tae-Young stepped down Thursday as defence minister.

President Lee Myung-Bak Friday named Kim Kwan-Jin, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the post.

"He has been assessed as a typical soldier with rationality and strong leadership," said senior secretary for public affairs Hong Sang-Pyo.

Hong said the new minister, 61, was expected "to restore people's trust in the military and enhance military morale".

A US aircraft carrier battle group was heading for the Yellow Sea for the four-day drill starting Sunday, a show of force designed to deter the North.

Pyongyang, unrepentant over its barrage, criticised "the US imperialists and South Korean puppet war-like forces" for what it called an exercise in "sabre-rattling".

"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again the war exercises targeted against the (North)," its official news agency said.

Pyongyang has used such language frequently in the past. It was unclear whether it would try to disrupt the drill -- which has also been criticised by the North's sole major ally China.

The US military says the exercise is defensive and was planned well before the North's "unprovoked artillery attack," but that it demonstrated the US "commitment to regional stability through deterrence".

The North has justified its firing Tuesday as retaliation, after South Korea allegedly lobbed shells into its waters during an exercise.

In response, the South fired 80 shells at the North's coastal artillery positions but says it did not call in air strikes, to avoid escalating the conflict.

The South will send more troops and guns to five front-line islands and said it would change the rules of engagement to let its military hit back harder against any future attacks.

The North, in another statement Friday, vowed to stage such attacks if there is any further "provocation" by the South.

In Seoul's southern suburbs, President Lee paid tribute to the two dead marines, burning incense and laying flowers at altars set up in a military hospital.

Parts of Yeonpyeong island resembled a war zone Friday, an AFP correspondent reported. Stray dogs searched for food after their owners joined an exodus of hundreds of villagers to the mainland.

Some residents fled the island for fear of more shelling from the North when the joint naval exercise starts, said policeman Kang Sang-Beom.

"My mission is to prevent possible looting as the village is virtually deserted," Kang said. "We are also looking for any more dead."

Fears also spread to other front-line islands.

Residents were on a knife-edge on Baengnyeong island, located near the spot where, according to a multinational expert panel, a North Korean submarine in March torpedoed a South Korean warship.

Forty-six sailors on board were killed.

"It feels like the calm before the storm, ahead of the US-South Korea joint exercise that will begin Sunday," a 37-year-old local government official told AFP by phone.

"After seeing what happened to Yeonpyeong island, many residents feel nervous and they want to get off this island."

Many observers believe this week's attack was meant to highlight the military credentials of the North's heir apparent, Kim Jong-Un, youngest son of leader Kim Jong-Il.

[jaypee]

Govt readies P25 million for OFWs in Korea
11/25/2010 | 03:02 PM

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has readied P25 million for overseas Filipino workers based in South Korea in case of any contingency arising from the tension there.

According to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, her department is also ready to augment the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and welfare office personnel if needed.

“The (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) Board of Trustees has initially set aside P25 million ready to be used for any contingency involving our OFWs in South Korea," she said in a statement posted on the DOLE website Thursday afternoon.

She said DOLE is also ready to augment POLO and welfare office personnel in Seoul if there is a need for them.

Baldoz reassured the families of the OFWs that their loved ones are "safe and all right" amid news of the skirmish between North and South Korea military forces.

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said their records as of December 2009 show there are 50,270 Filipinos in Korea.

Baldoz said the POLO in Seoul headed by Labor Attaché Felicitas Bay has reported the Philippine Embassy is coordinating with Filipino community leaders.

“As members of the Crisis Management Team under the Contingency Plan, our POLO and welfare officers are closely working with and following the lead of the Philippine embassy in this regard," she said.

“The DOLE, through the International Labor Affairs Bureau, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, is closely monitoring the situation," Baldoz added. - KBK, GMANews.TV

[jaypee]

PAL readies emergency flights for Filipinos in Korea
11/26/2010 | 12:09 PM

Should the tension in the Korean peninsula erupt into a full-blown conflict, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) is ready to mount emergency flights to evacuate Filipinos in South Korea.

PAL officials discussed plans for the the special repatriation flights following a meeting with the Office of the President and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“We informed Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa that PAL has available aircraft that it can use for emergency flights to repatriate Filipinos who might be trapped in the dispute between North and South Korea," said PAL president and COO Jaime J. Bautista on Thursday.

“We want to assure the government and our ‘kababayans’ in South Korea that the national flag carrier is always ready to assist in times of emergency and lend a helping hand in their hour of need," he added.

The government and PAL are also identifying the possible pick-up areas in South Korea where PAL planes could safely land to ferry Filipinos back to the Philippines.

“We fervently hope that the conflict in Korea would soon end, but we can’t take things for granted. That’s why we have thrown our full cooperation and support to government in case of a worst case scenario," Bautista said.

Flights to Seoul, Busan continue

Meanwhile, PAL continues its regular flights to Seoul and Busan until advised otherwise by Philippine or South Korean authorities.

PAL currently flies Manila-Seoul twice a day, to Busan four times a week, and daily from Cebu to Seoul.

The PAL staff in Korea, with the help of the Philippine embassy in South Korea, have been updating the PAL management about the situation in that country. – VVP, GMANews.TV

[Black Thunder]

Korea allays fears of war
Philstar.com - Saturday, November 27SendIM StoryPrint.SEOUL – The South Korean government calmed yesterday global fears that a full-scale war could erupt on the Korean peninsula following an artillery attack launched by North Korea last Tuesday.

Kim Young-sun, spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, admitted that they are “very worried about North Korea – a troublemaker of the international community.”

But Kim, who is also deputy minister for public affairs, sought to downplay war jitters that brought stocks tumbling across the globe following the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island that killed two civilians and two South Korean Marines. It was the first attack on the country’s soil and the first to target civilians since the armistice in 1953.

Asked about the possibility of a full-scale war erupting, Kim grinned and told The STAR, “A full scale war… with my wife.”

Another South Korean diplomat involved in the ASEAN Regional Forum, which tackles security issues in Southeast Asia, also told The STAR, when asked to assess the risk of a full-blown war, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, chuckled and said, “1.”

Greeting a delegation of journalists and foreign government officials from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Kim described North Korea’s attack as a “military provocation.”

But his message was not one of war: “We are ready to help (the North Koreans). It is also our aspiration to co-prosper with them and ultimately to be reunited.”

Although over 1,700 residents of Yeonpyeong Island have been evacuated and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has threatened “enormous retaliation” for the attack, this capital has been calm since Tuesday. Security has been tightened only at ports of entry and around the areas near the border with the North.

The Philippine embassy here has said about 60,000 Filipinos staying in the country are safe and there is no need for evacuation. Filipinos encountered by The STAR in the crowded commercial areas of the city said they were worried less about war breaking out than about being sent home and losing their jobs in case the conflict escalates.

Several years ago, Seoul had offered to build a nuclear reactor for North Korea, but Pyongyang rejected it because the reactor would be operated by South Koreans.

South Korea has about 100 businesses in the North, employing North Koreans. Pyongyang’s volume of trade with Seoul is bigger than its trade with Beijing.

But fears of full-scale war erupting have intensified following North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s warning that they would launch another attack again if provoked. Criticism that the South Korean military was not prepared for the attack prompted its defense minister Kim Tae-young to resign last Thursday night. Some quarters fear that the resignation would be seen by Pyongyang as a victory and embolden it to launch further attacks.

Pyongyang has pointed to South Korea’s military drills in waters near the North as the reason for the shelling of Yeonpyeong. The two armies exchanged fire for about an hour following the attack.

South Korea and the United States are pushing through with war games in the same waters this weekend. South Korean diplomats said yesterday that the war games had been scheduled way before the shelling of Yeonpyeong.

Following the attacks, the US sent a carrier battle group led by nuclear powered USS George Washington to Korean waters. The US said the deployment of the carrier was part of the military exercise scheduled on Sunday. - By Ana Marie Pamintuan (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

[Black Thunder]

US and South Korea push ahead with war games
            Buzz up!1051 votes Share
–
 Associated Press David Guttenfelder And Kim Kwang-tae, Associated Press – 1 hr 54 mins ago
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – The United States and South Korea prepared for war games Sunday as South Koreans demanded vengeance over a deadly North Korean artillery bombardment that has raised fears of more clashes between the bitter rivals.

The North, meanwhile, worked to justify one of the worst attacks on South Korean territory since the 1950-53 Korean War. Four South Koreans, including two civilians, died after the North rained artillery on the small Yellow Sea island of Yeonpyeong, which is home to both fishing communities and military bases.

North Korea said civilians were used as a "human shield" around artillery positions and lashed out at what it called a "propaganda campaign" against Pyongyang.

It claimed the United States orchestrated last Tuesday's clash so that it could stage joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea with the South that include a U.S. nuclear powered supercarrier — enraging the North and making neighboring China uneasy.

The North Korean attack on an area with a civilian population marked a new level of hostility along the rivals' disputed sea border. Only eight months ago, according to the findings of a South Korean-led international investigation, a North Korean torpedo sank a South Korean warship in waters farther west, killing 46 sailors.

The aggression could be linked to the North's attempt to strengthen its government as it pursues a delicate transfer of power from leader Kim Jong Il to a young, unproven son. It also may reflect Pyongyang's frustration that it has been unable to force a resumption of stalled international talks on receiving aid in return for nuclear disarmament.

The attack laid bare weaknesses 60 years after the Korean War in South Korea's defenses against the North, which does not recognize the border drawn by the U.N. at the close of the conflict and which considers waters around Yeonpyeong as its territory.

The skirmish prompted President Lee Myung-bak to replace his defense minister on Friday.

"Once the enemy attacks us, it is our duty to respond even more strongly," said student Jeon Hyun-soo, 19. "The South Korean people want this."

North Korea's state news agency said that although "it is very regrettable, if it is true, that civilian casualties occurred on Yeonpyeong island, its responsibility lies in enemies' inhumane action of creating a 'human shield' by deploying civilians around artillery positions."

The North said its enemies are "now working hard to dramatize 'civilian casualties' as part of its propaganda campaign."

South Korea was conducting artillery drills Tuesday from the island, located just 7 miles (11 kilometers) from North Korea's mainland, but fired away from the mainland.

The North said it warned South Korea to halt the drills on the morning of the attack, as part of "superhuman efforts to prevent the clash to the last moment."

The North said that Sunday's planned U.S.-South Korean war games showed that the United States was "the arch criminal who deliberately planned the incident and wire-pulled it behind the scene."

The war games starting Sunday and involving the USS George Washington supercarrier display resolve by Korean War allies Washington and Seoul to respond strongly to any future North Korean aggression. However, Washington has insisted the drills are routine and were planned well before last Tuesday's attack.

North Korea on Saturday warned of retaliatory attacks creating a "sea of fire" if its territory is violated.

President Lee told top officials "there is a possibility North Korea may take provocative actions during the (joint) exercise," and urged them to coordinate with U.S. forces to counter any such move, according to a spokesman in the president's office who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing official protocol.

Washington and Seoul have pressed China to use its influence on Pyongyang to ease tensions. A dispatch from Chinese state media on Friday — saying Beijing's foreign minister had met with the North Korean ambassador — appeared to be an effort to trumpet China's role as a responsible actor and placate the U.S. and the South.

China is impoverished North Korea's biggest benefactor and its only major ally.

On Friday, the North conducted an apparent artillery drill within sight of Yeonpyeong island. The warning to Seoul and Washington came as the top U.S. commander in South Korea toured Yeonpyeong island to survey the wreckage from the rain of artillery three days earlier.

The North's artillery barrage Tuesday destroyed civilian homes as well as military bases on Yeonpyeong Island.

President Lee has ordered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeonpyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands, as well as top-level weaponry and upgraded rules of engagement.

Most of the islanders fled to the mainland after the barrage set off fierce blazes that destroyed many of their communities. It will take six months to two years for island communities to rebuild, disaster relief official Kim Sang-ryul said.

Soldiers assembled toilets Saturday for temporary shelters being built on the island by teams of relief workers.

Some South Koreans criticized the government for leaving Yeonpyeong inadequately protected.

"Military-wise, the emergency facilities should have been prepared for something like this, so I think the South Korean military must reinforce them," said Kim Min-yang, a 27-year-old company employee. "I also think we need more dialogue with North Korea."

[Black Thunder]

US, SKorea launch war games
           .
 By DAVID GUTTENFELDER and JEAN H. LEE, Associated Press David Guttenfelder And Jean H. Lee, Associated Press –
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – The sound of new artillery fire from North Korea just hours after the U.S. and South Korea launched a round of war games in Korean waters sent residents and journalists on a front-line island scrambling for cover Sunday.

None of the rounds landed on Yeonpyeong Island, military officials said, but the South Korean Defense Ministry later ordered journalists off the island. The incident showed how tense the situation remains along the Koreas' disputed maritime border five days after a North Korean artillery attack decimated parts of the island and killed four South Koreans.

As the rhetoric from North Korea escalated, with new warnings of a "merciless" assault if further provoked, a top Chinese official made a last-minute visit to Seoul to confer with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Washington and Seoul have urged China, North Korea's main ally and benefactor, to help defuse the situation amid fears of all-out war. Beijing has called for restraint on all sides.

Lee pressed State Councilor Dai Bingguo, a senior foreign policy adviser, to contribute to peace in a "more objective, responsible" matter, and warned that Seoul would respond "strongly" to any further provocation, his office said in a statement.

Dai forwarded Beijing's condolences and pledged China's help in preventing tensions from worsening, Lee's office said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, Choe Thae Bok, was due to visit Beijing starting Tuesday, China's official Xinhua News Agency said.

The border between North and South Korea is among the world's most heavily fortified, with the peninsula still technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 war ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.

North Korea also disputes the maritime border drawn by U.N. forces at the close of the war, and considers the waters around Yeonpyeong Island — 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the South Korean port of Incheon but just 7 miles (11 kilometers) from the North Korean mainland — its territory.

The area has seen several bloody skirmishes, including the sinking of a South Korean warship eight months ago, killing 46 sailors. An international team of investigators concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the ship, but Pyongyang denies any involvement.

Tuesday's attack on the island, which has military bases as well as a civilian population of 1,300 who mostly make their living from fishing, marked a new level of hostility. Two marines and two civilians were killed, and 18 others wounded, when the North rained artillery on Yeonpyeong in one of the worst assaults since the Korean War.

North Korea said Saturday the civilian deaths were "regrettable," but blamed South Korea for staging military drills against Pyongyang's warnings that it would consider such exercises a provocation. Pyongyang accused Seoul of using Yeonpyeong's residents as human shields.

The North Korea military also has mounted conventional, surface-to-air SA-2 missiles on launch pads on a west coast base, aiming them at South Korean fighter jets flying near the western sea border, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified South Korean government source.

South Korea's military said it couldn't confirm the deployments. An official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North had already deployed anti-ship missiles on its west coast bases.

The Defense Ministry said Sunday that journalists must leave the island because the "situation is not good."

A ministry official said that a ship will be arranged to evacuate journalists later Sunday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity citing office rules, said other safety measures will be arranged to remaining islanders and rescue workers and local officials on Yeonpyeong Island.

About 380 people, including 28 islanders and 190 journalists, remain on the island on Sunday, according to Incheon city government that governs the island.

The previously planned joint war games launched Sunday by the U.S. and South Korea were sure to heighten the tensions.

Ships from both countries entered the exercise zone Sunday, an official with South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said on condition of anonymity, citing office rules.

Washington, which keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect the ally, insists the drills involving the USS George Washington supercarrier were routine and planned well before last Tuesday's attack. However, North Korea expressed outrage over the Yellow Sea drills.

"We will launch merciless counter-military strikes against any provocative moves that infringe upon our country's territorial waters," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in an editorial carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Sunday's burst of artillery fire in North Korea was the second in three days. Authorities briefly ordered residents to evacuate, before recalling the order.

"We got the report that North Korea's artillery batteries were in the 'ready-to fire' posture," police chief Choi Du-gyu said. "So we decided to order residents to evacuate to keep them safe."

North Korea also staged an apparently artillery drill Friday, the guns sounding just as the U.S. military's top commander in the region, Gen. Walter Sharp, was touring Yeonpyeong Island. No shells landed anywhere in South Korean territory.

Tuesday's attack reduced dozens of homes on the island to rubble. All but a handful of residents have evacuated to the mainland.

As monks chanted their morning prayers at Jogye Temple, Shim Jeong-wook, 74, said he didn't think North Korea would attack again, not with a U.S. aircraft carrier group in South Korean waters.

"I don't think North Korea will provoke while the U.S. Navy fleet is in the Yellow Sea," he said. "But who knows what will happen when it leaves?"

___

Jean H. Lee reported from Seoul. AP writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kelly Olsen in Seoul, Christopher Bodeen and Gillian Wong in Beijing and Pauline Jelinek in Washington contributed to this report.

[Black Thunder]

No ban on labor export to South Korea: Philippine labor chief
ANN - Monday, November 29SendIM StoryPrint.Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) -
There is no order to suspend temporarily the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to South Korea, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said in a statement issued Sunday.

"What there is was a deferment of the deployment of 55 South Korea-bound OFWs who are supposed to leave on November 30. Their departure has been re-set to December 7," she said, clarifying a Radyo ng Bayan report that was later picked up by other news organizations.

The decision to ban the deployment of Filipinos to South Korea, where tension has been high following last week's artillery exchange between the two Koreas, will still have to be made pending a review of the security situation there, Baldoz said.

"The government team, headed by Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and which the President had directed to assess the situation, had recommended this decision as a matter of caution and prudence," she said.

"Any further decision on the deployment of OFWs to South Korea will be reviewed after the team of Ambassador Roy Cimatu, which has been ordered to go to South Korea to assess the situation there, has submitted a report," she added.

There are about 60,000 Filipinos in South Korea.

[Black Thunder]

                                             Signs of diplomacy in NKorea crisis

By WALLY SANTANA and HYUNGJIN KIM,Associated Press - Wednesday, December .SEOUL, South Korea –
Jets roared off a supercarrier in U.S.-South Korean war games Tuesday, as the U.S. and two crucial Asian allies agreed to talk in Washington about North Korea's attack on a South Korean island and the North's nuclear weapons programs.

Although North Korea kept up its sharp rhetoric _ the country warned that the military drills could trigger "full-blown war" _ as the chairman of North Korea's parliament left Pyongyang for talks with leaders in the country's only major ally, China.

It was unclear if Choe Thae Bok's visit to Beijing would lead to a diplomatic solution to rising tensions. China proposed emergency regional talks earlier this week, but South Korea, the United States and Japan gave a cool response.

Even as Choe traveled to Beijing, the North reminded the world it was forging ahead with its nuclear efforts. Pyongyang said Tuesday that it's operating a modern uranium enrichment plant equipped with thousands of centrifuges. The main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in an editorial that the North is also building light-water reactors. The commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, said the uranium enrichment is entirely for peaceful purposes.

The North first revealed the program in early November to a visiting American scientist. A light-water nuclear power reactor is ostensibly for civilian energy purposes, but it gives the North a reason to enrich uranium. Uranium enrichment would give the North a second way to make nuclear bombs, in addition to its known plutonium-based program.

North Korea has pushed for renewed international talks on receiving much-needed aid in return for commitments to dismantle nuclear programs, and its recent aggression could reflect frustration that those talks remain stalled.

The North unleashed an artillery barrage on a South Korean island Nov. 23 that hit civilian areas, marking a new level of hostility along the contested maritime border between the Koreas. The attack killed two civilians and two marines.

In a major address Monday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak pledged a tough response if the North carries out any further attacks.

Foreign ministers from South Korea, the United States and Japan are to meet in Washington in early December to discuss the shelling and North Korea's nuclear program, according to Seoul's Foreign Ministry.

Despite the diplomacy, tension in the region remained high.

On Tuesday, the North's propaganda machine issued a warning that the South Korea-U.S. drills, involving a nuclear-powered U.S. supercarrier, could trigger a "full-blown war" on the peninsula.

A heavy fog engulfed the USS George Washington supercarrier during Tuesday's drills. The carrier's fog horn boomed out as U.S. aircraft took off and landed in quick succession.

On the streets of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, North Koreans spoke with pride of their military.

"Those who like fire are bound to be punished with fire," Kim Yong Jun, a Pyongyang resident, told international broadcaster APTN. "If the U.S. imperialists and South Korean puppets continue to gather the clouds of war, the Korean army and people will never forgive them."

A rally in Seoul drew several thousand protesters who burned North Korean flags, demanding that the North apologize for the attack and calling for the overthrow of its leader Kim Jong Il.

"We've had enough," said Kim Jin-gyu, 64, adding that North Korea deserves punishment. "We should just smash it up."

More than 80 former South Korean special agents whose mission was to infiltrate North Korea went to Yeonpyeong Island on Tuesday. The agents, wearing military-style fatigues and combat boots, urged South Korea's government to retaliate against Pyongyang over the shelling.

"Let's get rid of Kim Jong Il _ the Korean people's No.1 enemy," the agents said in a statement.

With their arrival, about 320 residents, local officials and journalists were on the island as of Tuesday, according to Ongjin county, which governs the island.

In New York, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said Monday that the U.N. Security Council is studying how to respond to the shelling as well as the recent uranium revelations.

Yonhap news agency reported that Choe, the North Korean official, was expected to meet top Chinese communist party officials and discuss last week's artillery barrage, the North's nuclear program and the U.S.-South Korean military drills.

China, North Korea's only major ally, has sought to calm tensions by calling for an emergency meeting among regional powers involved in six-party nuclear disarmament talks _ the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russian and Japan _ which have been stalled since last year.

Seoul, which wants proof of Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization as well as a show of regret over the March sinking of a warship, reacted coolly to the proposal.

Asked about China's proposal, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday that six-nation talks "cannot substitute for action by North Korea to comply with its obligations and to cease its destabilizing actions on the Korean Peninsula."

He said the United States wants "China to urge North Korea to stop the destabilization. But I think there has to be a seriousness on the part of the North Koreans to get back to these talks."

[Black Thunder]

SKorean jets will bomb North if it attacks again
By KIM KWANGTAE,Associated Press -  –
South Korea's next defense chief threatened Friday that jets would bomb the North if it stages another attack like last week's deadly shelling as he outlined a tough new military policy toward the rival neighbor.

President Lee Myung-bak's government is suffering intense criticism that its response to North Korea's Nov. 23 barrage on a South Korean island was weak, and over the stunning revelation that the South's spy chief dismissed information in August indicating the North might attack the front-line island of Yeonpyeong.

Lee's nominee, Kim Kwan-jin, told a parliamentary confirmation hearing that further North Korean aggression will result in airstrikes. He said South Korea will use all its combat capabilities to retaliate.

"In case the enemy attacks our territory and people again, we will thoroughly retaliate to ensure that the enemy cannot provoke again," Kim said. The hearing is a formality as South Korea's National Assembly does not have the power to reject Lee's appointment.

Kim said it will be difficult for North Korea to conduct a full-scale war because of its weak economy and concerns over a plan to transfer power from ailing leader Kim Jong Il to his young, untested son, Kim Jong Un.

Despite the bold declarations, questions have been raised about Lee's readiness _ and even willingness _ to stand up to the North. The president has been criticized for leading a military whose response to the attack was seen as too slow and too weak. The North fired 170 rounds, compared with 80 returned by South Korea.

Satellite photos showed only about 10 South Korean rounds landed near North Korea's army barracks along the west coast, according to the office of lawmaker Kwon Young-se, who said he saw the images provided Thursday by the National Intelligence Service.

Despite the pressure, Lee must balance calls for a harsh response with the knowledge that Seoul _ a city of more than 10 million people and the economic heart of the country _ lies only 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Koreas' heavily militarized border and within easy range of North Korean artillery.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Friday that North Korea has recently improved its ability to hit the capital: North Korea now has 5,200 rockets, about 100 more than it used to, the agency said, citing an unidentified South Korean military source. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it could not confirm the report because it involves military intelligence.

Kim and other senior South Korean officials have warned the North will likely strike again. Kim said Friday that North Korea's leadership and military are South Korea's "main enemy."

China, which is North Korea's only major ally, has pressed for an emergency meeting of the six nations that previously negotiated over the North's nuclear program: the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States.

North Korea walked away from those disarmament-for-aid talks in April 2009 but has said it now wants to restart them. Washington, Tokyo and Seoul are wary of talking with the North, and their top diplomats planned to meet in Washington on Monday to plot a strategy on dealing with the country.

Although it won't be part of that meeting, China said Thursday it would keep a "close watch" on the talks and sounded upbeat about what they could achieve.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement that she also hoped the three countries would consider China's proposal for the emergency consultations. Earlier Thursday, Jiang said that Russia had expressed interest. South Korea, Japan and the U.S. have reacted coolly to the suggestion.

Meanwhile, President Lee said he believes there are signs of change in North Korea, citing the presence of private markets and a growing number of defections to South Korea.

"What should be noted is the change of the North Korean people rather than the change of its leaders," Lee said in comments on the presidential website.

   

[Black Thunder]

S.Korea live-fire drill enters second day
AFP - Wednesday, December 8SendIM StoryPrint.

South Korean troops sit in a military truck on Yeonpyeong island. South Korea's military has staged a second day of live-fire exercises in the wake of a deadly North Korean attack, as Beijing rebuffed criticism it is failing to restrain its ally Pyongyang.
 
Slideshow: Faces of Asia PH SEOUL (AFP) - – South Korea's military staged a second day of live-fire exercises Tuesday in the wake of a deadly North Korean attack, as Beijing rebuffed criticism it is failing to restrain its ally Pyongyang.

With tensions still high a fortnight after the North's bombardment of a South Korean border island, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Admiral Mike Mullen is to visit Seoul to stress the strength of the alliance.

Mullen will meet his Seoul JCS counterpart General Han Min-Koo and other senior military officials on Wednesday as well as new defence minister Kim Kwan-Jin.

The two sides "plan to analyse the intention of North Korean provocations and discuss measures to deter further provocations through close cooperation", Seoul's military said in a statement.

The North's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong, one of five islands near the tense disputed Yellow Sea border, killed two civilians and two marines and destroyed almost 30 homes.

It was the first attack on a civilian-populated area in the South since the 1950-53 war and was seen as a sharp escalation from military-to-military clashes in past years.

The South has vowed to hit back harder, using air power, for any future provocations. It shrugged off the North's warnings that this week's firing drills at 29 locations around the South's coast could spark war.

However the JCS said a drill off Daecheong, one of the five frontline islands, had been delayed due to bad weather.

China, which provides the North with a fuel and food lifeline, has come under pressure to curb its long-time ally but has failed even to criticise the island attack.

It called for emergency talks among the envoys to stalled six-nation negotiations on North Korean denuclearisation.

But Washington, Seoul and Tokyo baulked, instead holding their own three-way meeting of foreign ministers in the US capital on Monday.

"We appreciate Beijing's initiative to propose an emergency six-party gathering. However, we first need an appropriate basis for the resumption of talks," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan added: "We would like China to have a more clear stance in giving warning to North Korea and to contain these provocative actions by North Korea."

Kim said the three agreed the North would face "severe consequences" if it engages in further provocations, but the nature of these remained unclear.

Beijing in response again called for wider negotiations.

"The responsibility for safeguarding peace and stability should be shouldered by all parties in the region. We call on all parties to positively respond to our proposal for talks," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

Jiang also slammed a Washington Post report that US officials are privately accusing China of "enabling" North Korea to start a uranium enrichment programme and to launch attacks on the South.

"We feel the accusation is irresponsible," the spokeswoman said. "China's efforts (to maintain peace and stability) have been witnessed by all."

Wednesday's talks between Han and Mullen are expected to consider modifying the rules of engagement in case of future attacks, a Seoul military source told Yonhap news agency.

The South currently has an agreement to consult US forces before using its own jet fighters in combat. The United States stations some 28,500 troops in the country.

"The two sides are likely to discuss the issue of approving an air raid when North Korea attacks our territory," the source said.

The South has sent more artillery and troops to border islands. President Lee Myung-Bak, at a cabinet meeting, ordered measures both to fortify them and to woo residents to return.

Some 1,250 of the 1,361 civilians on Yeonpyeong, a garrison and fishing settlement, fled after the attack, as did some residents of other islands.

Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek, in charge of cross-border relations, described the shelling as an "indelible atrocity" and the "worst choice" Pyongyang had ever made.

Hyun told a seminar the attack -- and the sinking of a South Korean warship in March with the loss of 46 lives -- had shattered any remaining illusions about the North.

The South, citing a multinational investigation, says the warship was hit by a North Korean torpedo. Pyongyang denies the charge.

[jaypee]

SKorea to conduct firing drills from border island
By HYUNG-JIN KIM and AHN YOUNG-JOON, Associated Press 12/18/10 – 54 mins ago

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – South Korea ordered residents of front-line islands into bomb shelters as it vowed to press forward with live-fire drills near disputed waters Monday despite North Korea's threat to retaliate, sharply spiking tensions.

U.N. diplomats meeting in New York failed to find any solution to ease fears of a new war on the Korean peninsula, nearly a month after the North shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong island in retaliation for earlier artillery exercises there. The North has said it would respond even more harshly to any new drills from the Yellow Sea island.

South Korea's move to launch new drills from Yeonpyeong brought tensions to their highest point since the North's Nov. 23 bombardment, which killed two South Korean marines and two civilians in the North's first attack targeting civilian areas since the 1950-53 Korean War.

South Korean marines on Yeonpyeong, a tiny enclave of fishing communities and military bases within sight of North Korean shores, were to conduct the live-fire drills from the island later Monday, although the exact timing will depend on weather conditions, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Ministry said.

South Korea's military will "immediately and sternly" deal with any North Korean provocation, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

Residents, local officials and journalists Yeonpyeong and four other islands were ordered to evacuate to underground shelters because of possible attacks by North Korea, Ongjin County government spokesman Won Ji-young said.

The Defense Ministry said the artillery drills were to be staged sometime Monday afternoon. The drills were to last about two hours and involve several types of weapons, including K-9 self-propelled guns, ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters, according to his office.

The North, which considers the waters around Yeonpyeong its own territory, has warned of a "catastrophe" if South Korea goes ahead with the drills. The North says it warned South Korea before last month's shelling not to conduct similar live-fire drills from Yeonpyeong.

The U.N. Security Council failed Sunday to agree on a statement to address rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the United States and other council members demanded that the council condemn North Korea for two deadly attacks this year that have helped send relations to their lowest point in decades. But diplomats said China strongly objected.

After eight hours of closed-door consultations Sunday, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who called the emergency council meeting, told reporters "we were not successful in bridging all the bridges."

Although some countries still need to consult capitals, Rice said "the gaps that remain are unlikely to be bridged."

Several bloody naval skirmishes have occurred along the disputed western sea border between the two Koreas in recent years. The North does not recognize the U.N.-drawn sea border in the area.

The North claims South Korea fired artillery toward its territorial waters before it unleashed shells on the island on Nov. 23. The South says it launched shells southward, not toward North Korea, as part of routine exercises.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a frequent unofficial envoy to North Korea and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., has held three meetings with top leaders in the foreign ministry and military during a four-day visit to Pyongyang. He called for maximum restraint.

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, North Korea has raised military readiness of its artillery unit along the west coast.

It cited an unidentified South Korean government official who was also quoted as saying some North Korean fighter jets that had been inside the west coast air force hangar had come outside.

A South Korean Defense Ministry official declined to confirm the report, citing the issue's sensitivity. He asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

China, the North's key ally, has said it is "unambiguously opposed" to any acts that could worsen already-high tensions.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, called for restraint from all parties concerned to avoid escalation, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

About 150 residents, officials and journalists were on Yeonpyeong on Monday, said Won, the spokesman for Ongjin County. He said there is no immediate plan to order a mandatory evacuation to the mainland.

___

AP writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

[Black Thunder]

                            NKorea backs away from threat to attack South

By FOSTER KLUG and AHN YOUNGJOON,Associated Press - Tuesday, December 21SendIM StoryPrint.YEONPYEONG ISLAND,
 South Korea – North Korea backed off threats to retaliate against South Korea for military drills Monday and reportedly offered concessions on its nuclear program _ signs it was looking to lower the temperature on the Korean peninsula after weeks of soaring tensions.

But Pyongyang has feinted toward conciliation before and failed to follow through.

The North's gestures came after South Korea launched fighter jets, evacuated hundreds of residents near its tense land border with the North and sent residents of islands near disputed waters into underground bunkers in case Pyongyang followed through on its vow to attack over the drills.

"It appears that deterrence has been restored," said Daniel Pinkston, Seoul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group think tank. "The North Koreans only understand force or show of force."

North Korea has previously been accused of using a mix of aggression and conciliatory gestures to force international negotiations that usually net it much-needed aid. Real progress on efforts to rid the North of its nuclear weapons programs has been rare.

On Nov. 23, the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island, a tiny enclave of fishing communities and military bases about seven miles (11 kilometers) from North Korean shores in response to an earlier round of South Korean live-fire maneuvers. The North's artillery barrage killed two marines and two construction workers in its first attack targeting civilian areas since the 1950-53 Korean War. That clash sent tensions soaring between the two countries _ which are still technically at war.

They've remained in a tense standoff since then`, and an emergency meeting of U.N. diplomats in New York on Sunday failed to find any solution to the crisis.

But Monday brought some of the first positive signs in weeks, as a high-profile American governor announced what he said were two nuclear concessions from the North.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a frequent unofficial envoy to North Korea and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said that during his visit the North agreed to let U.N. atomic inspectors visit its main nuclear complex to make sure it's not producing enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, according to a statement from his office.

The North expelled U.N. inspectors last year, and last month showed a visiting American scientist a new, highly advanced uranium enrichment facility that could give it a second way to make atomic bombs, in addition to its plutonium program. Richardson also said that Pyongyang was willing to sell fresh fuel rods, potentially to South Korea.

"We had positive results," Richardson told Associated Press Television News at the Pyongyang airport Monday night.

He had been set to brief reporters in Beijing, but his flight was canceled.

"This is the way countries are supposed to act," U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "The South Korean exercise was defensive in nature. The North Koreans were notified in advance. There was no basis for a belligerent response."

Analyst Baek Seung-joo cautioned that the North's reported concessions are only a tactic aimed at easing international pressure. Baek, of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul, said the comments would be significant if the North made them officially, rather than through Richardson.

The North was only sounding out U.S. and South Korean intentions by talking to Richardson, Baek said, and if the situation doesn't turn in the North's favor, it will back away.

Pyongyang is believed to be seeking one-on-one talks with Washington before returning to stalled nuclear disarmament negotiations hosted by China. The U.S., however, has indicated that a resumption of those talks, without meaningful movement on past nuclear commitments from the North, could be seen as tantamount to rewarding North Korea for behaving badly.

China has urged a resumption of the talks, and diplomats said Beijing successfully prevented Sunday's U.N. Security Council meeting from issuing a statement condemning the North's shelling _ as the U.S. and others had wanted.

On Monday, China's deputy U.N. ambassador Wang Min urged both sides "to exercise maximum restraint," avoid increasing tensions and solve differences through peaceful dialogue and engagement.

"China will continue to make every efforts towards this end," he said. "Calm rather than tensions, dialogue rather than confrontation, peace than warfare _ this is the strong aspiration and voice of the peoples from both sides of the peninsula and the international community."

Diplomats at the U.N. blamed China for refusing to condemn North Korea for two deadly attacks this year that helped send relations to their lowest point in decades.

Wang called the Security Council meeting "positive and of great importance" without any mention of its failure to agree on a statement. He noted that "members of the council, including China, the United States and Russia, have made efforts to the extent possible to avoid armed conflicts on the peninsula."

China is the North's most important ally and has come under pressure to leverage its influence to rein in the North in the wake of the attack.

Beijing, which provides crucial food and fuel aid to Pyongyang, is wary of pressuring the North in a way that could destabilize it, fearing in part a government collapse and a flood of refugees into northeastern China.

It was unclear if China persuaded North Korea not to react to Monday's drills.

Richardson appeared to suggest that his visit contributed to the North's backing down.

"During my meetings in Pyongyang, I repeatedly pressed North Korea not to retaliate. The result is that South Korea was able to flex its muscles, and North Korea reacted in a statesmanlike manner," Richardson said in a statement. "I hope this will signal a new chapter and a round of dialogue to lessen tension on the Korean peninsula."

North Korea called Monday's drills a "reckless military provocation" but said after they ended that it was holding its fire because Seoul had changed its firing zones.

The official Korean Central News Agency carried a military statement that suggested the North viewed Monday's drills differently from those that provoked it last month because South Korean shells landed farther south of the North's shores.

The North claims the waters around Yeonpyeong as its territory, and during last month's artillery exchange, the North accused the South of firing artillery into its waters; the South said it fired shells southward, not toward the North.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said its artillery Monday was fired in the same direction _ toward waters southwest of the island, not toward the North _ as last month's maneuvers.

"North Korea appeared to have issued this statement because it was afraid" of a full-blown war with South Korea, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity citing department rules.

In Washington, the Pentagon called the drills routine. There was nothing "provocative, unusual or threatening about them," said Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ordered preparations to cope with any possible attack by North Korea, even after the drills ended.

Several bloody naval skirmishes have occurred in recent years along the Koreas' disputed western sea border, which the North does not recognize.

___

Klug reported from Seoul. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kelly Olsen in Seoul, Gillian Wong in Beijing, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, and Matt Lee and Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

[Black Thunder]

North Korea makes nuclear threat in standoff with South
Reuters - Friday, December 24SendIM StoryPrint.By Jack Kim and Sylvia Westall

SEOUL - North Korea threatened a nuclear "sacred war" on Thursday and South Korea vowed a "merciless counterattack" if it was attacked again as both sides raised the rhetoric on a day of more military exercises in the South.

South Korea's land and sea exercises prompted North Korea, which has threatened to reduce the South to ashes on many occasions, to denounce its richer neighbour as a warmonger.

"To counter the enemy's intentional drive to push the situation to the brink of war, our revolutionary forces are making preparations to begin a sacred war at any moment necessary based on nuclear deterrent," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted Minister of Armed Forces Kim Yong-chun as saying.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said "we need constructive actions, not heated rhetoric" from Pyongyang.

"The last thing the region needs from North Korea is more threatening rhetoric," he said in Washington.

North Korea has wielded its nuclear capability threat before but analysts say it has no way to launch a nuclear device.

Tension reached a peak last month when North Korea shelled a southern island, Yeonpyeong, killing four people, in response to a South Korean live-fire drill in what the North said were its waters.

The North has since made a conciliatory gesture, offering to re-admit U.N. nuclear inspectors worried about its nuclear weapons program.

"We've seen North Korea flip-flop from threatening the South with nuclear war before the military exercises, then a day later ignore that the exercises took place, launch a peace initiative, and now, just days later, once again threaten with nuclear war," said Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"The flip-flopping is part of North Korea's tactic to keep everyone guessing and off balance."

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said on a tour of a forward army base overlooking North Korea that the South would not relax its readiness to counter any further aggression.

"We had believed patience would ensure peace on this land, but that was not the case," Lee, criticized for a perceived weak earlier response to North Korean attacks, told troops.

South Korea held a big land drill in the Pocheon region between Seoul and the heavily armed demilitarized zone south of the maritime border.

The drill involved a larger scale of firepower and personnel than usual for an exercise at the army training ground, a further indication that Lee wants to show the public his government can stand up to the North.

'AGGRESSIVE RHETORIC'

A large contingent of mechanized units operating tanks, three dozen self-propelled artillery, fighter jets and multiple rocket launchers took part in the live-fire drill just miles from the border. It lasted just less than an hour.

A British Foreign Office spokesman defended South Korea's decision to hold the exercises.

"South Korea has every right to conduct defensive military exercises in its territory," he said. "We urge North Korea to cease its aggressive rhetoric and refrain from provocative actions."

Lee has replaced his top defence officials with more hawkish military men, a response to criticism of his response to hostile acts, including an attack on a ship in March blamed on the North and the shelling of Yeonpyeong.

"We are facing a crisis because of North Korea, so I came to see this air and ground operation. I want to feel and see the level of South Korea's armed forces," said Kim Tae-dong, a 70-year-old Internet businessman, in Pocheon.

"Another North Korean provocation will happen. We should prepare our military perfectly for that."

Seoul's financial markets closed flat before the KCNA threats. Pyongyang's remarks have failed in the past to have a lasting market effect and South Korean credit-default swaps, a measure of credit risk, were unchanged.

But the recent tensions have spooked global markets and now figure in research notes from major banks such as Bank of New York Mellon, Royal Bank of Canada and Sweden's SEB.

Alastair Newton, a former British diplomat who is now a political analyst for Japanese bank Nomura, said the North's rhetoric was "the sort of thing we've heard before."

"But there's no doubt we are ... in the most dangerous situation on the Korean peninsula in decades."

DISPUTED WATERS

Analysts say the North is unlikely to launch a further attack against the South, in the near-term at least.

For now, the North is likely to wait and see if its latest actions, including the offer to readmit international nuclear inspectors, yield results such as a return to international talks on its nuclear program or economic aid.

China, the impoverished North's only major ally, has urged dialogue to resolve the crisis and has been reluctant to lay blame, frustrating Washington and its allies who want Beijing to do more to rein in Pyongyang.

President Barack Obama is expected to press this point when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits the United States on January 19.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, when asked about the South Korean drills, repeated China's call for a resumption of the so-called six-party talks.

"The current situation on the Korean peninsula remains highly complex," she told a regular news briefing. "We urge parties concerned to exercise calm and restraint."

[Black Thunder]

Korea talks hit stalemate as rivals trade blame
Reuters - Thursday, February 10SendIM StoryPrint.By Jeremy Laurence

SEOUL - North and South Korea traded blame on Thursday for the breakdown of military talks as a stalemate emerged over the starting point for negotiations.

North Korea said it would not take part as long as the South did not want to improve ties. South Korea said the North had to acknowledge its role in two attacks last year which killed 50 people.

Analysts said the breakdown on Wednesday was inevitable as both sides came to the negotiating table with different issues, adding the collapse was typical of past sputtering inter-Korean dialogue.

"This could go on for some time, which would be useful if for no other reason that North Korea is unlikely to resort to drastic measures as long as talks are under way or are likely," said Ken Boutin, a North Korea expert at Australia's Deakin University.

The United States, which has nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea, said it hoped the rivals could work out their differences and resume talks as soon as possible to reduce tensions on the divided peninsula.

The preliminary talks, the first inter-Korean meeting since the North's attack on the southern island of Yeonpyeong in November, broke down over procedural issues, including the agenda and the rank of participants at their next meeting.

Both sides accused the other of walking out of the talks.

"In a situation where do not wish for improvement of North-South relations and are refusing dialogue itself, our military and people no longer feel the need to be associated with the South," a communique from the delegates carried by the KCNA state news agency said.

Seoul said its offer for senior-level military talks still stood, but on the condition the North "takes responsible steps" for the two attacks.

South Korea said the North's delegates stood by their stance that Pyongyang had nothing to do with the sinking of the South's Cheonan warship in March and that it shelled the island of Yeonpyeong in November out of self-defence.

The North insisted that discussions about the attacks should only be taken up at the senior level, KCNA said.

The process will now return to the drawing board, with both sides likely to exchange statements before any resumption of talks. The process could take weeks, even months, analysts say.

A North Korean state website however maintained that dialogue was the best way to end the standoff.

"There's no doubt we can make good achievement on pending issues between the North and South if we discuss them through dialogue between authorities from the two sides," the website www.uriminzokkiri.com, operated by the government propaganda agency, said in an item posted on Thursday.

WHITHER SIX-PARTY TALKS?

Tensions have eased on the peninsula since the start of the year, with both sides calling for dialogue, raising hopes the neighbours can rebuild relations shattered over the past two years by the deadly attacks and failed nuclear talks.

There had been hopes the bilateral talks might set in a motion a return to broader aid-for-disarmament negotiations.

Beijing and Washington had set inter-Korean dialogue as a prerequisite to restart six-party talks which offer the North aid and diplomatic recognition in return for disabling its nuclear arms programme. Tokyo and Moscow are the other six-party members.

The North and its ally China want to restart the six-way negotiations, but Seoul and Washington have questioned the North's sincerity about denuclearising -- pointing to its revelations last year about a uranium-enrichment programme.

Pyongyang says its uranium-enriching facility is for peaceful energy-producing, but regional powers, including China, have expressed concerns about the programme which opens a second route to make a nuclear bomb after its plutonium programme.

Washington and Seoul want U.N. Security Council action against the North for breaching past agreements, while Beijing wants the matter to be dealt with by the six-party forum.

The secretive North quit the six-way talks in 2009, declaring the process dead, in protest against U.N. sanctions for conducting nuclear and missile tests.

[Black Thunder]

North Korea threatens to attack South Korea, US
By HYUNGJIN KIM,Associated Press - 32 minutes agoSendIM StoryPrint.SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea threatened Sunday to attack South Korea and the United States, as the allies prepared to start annual joint military drills _ maneuvers Pyongyang says are a rehearsal for an invasion.

The North has routinely issued such war rhetoric against South Korea and the U.S. The latest warning, however, came nearly three weeks after the rival Koreas failed to reach a breakthrough in their first dialogue in months.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula rose sharply last year over two deadly attacks _ the sinking of a South Korean naval ship blamed on the North 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.

On Sunday, the North used harsh rhetoric against South Korea and the U.S., 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 U.S. of plotting to launch "limited war" and topple Pyongyang's communist government. If provoked, the North will start a "full-scale" war and turn Seoul into a "sea of fire," the statement said.

Earlier Sunday, the North'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 the communist country.

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 the North's most important national holiday, an apparent reference to leader Kim Jong Il's 69th birthday, which was Feb. 16.

It was unclear whether activists have launched more balloons since then and if they plan additional leafletting in coming days.

The South Korean Defense Ministry confirmed it had received the North's warning. A ministry official said South Korea's military keeps a close watch on North Korean military movement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told parliament Friday that North Korea may launch new attacks this spring and that South Korea's military was ready to cope with any types of hostilities.

On Monday, South Korea and the U.S. are to launch drills aimed at rehearsing how to respond to any potential emergency on the Korean peninsula.

About 12,800 U.S. troops and some 200,000 South Korean soldiers and reservists will take part in the drills, which will last 11 days and involve computer war games, live-firing exercises and other field training, according to the U.S. and South Korean militaries.

Pyongyang has called the drills a preparation to invade North Korea, though South Korean and U.S. officials have repeatedly said the maneuvers are purely defensive and that they have no intention of attacking.

After weeks of tension following November's bombardment of the island, North Korea pushed for dialogue with South Korea and expressed a desire to return to stalled international disarmament talks on its nuclear program.

Military officers from the two Koreas met earlier this month but failed to produce any progress, with both sides accusing the other of rupturing the dialogue. North Korea later threatened not to hold any more military talks with Seoul.

The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to help deter potential aggression by the North.

[Black Thunder]

North Korea threatens US, South with 'all-out war'
AFP - Monday, February 28SendIM StoryPrint.SEOUL (AFP) - – North Korea threatened "all-out war" in response to exercises by South Korean and US troops due to start Monday and told Seoul to stop cross-border propaganda, upping the rhetoric against its arch rivals.

Pyongyang would respond to the upcoming drill, with "unprecedented all-out counteraction" that would turn the South's capital Seoul into a "sea of flames", the Korean Central News Agency said Sunday.

"The army and people of the DPRK will return bolstered nuclear deterrent of our own style for the continued nuclear threat... and our own missile striking action for their vicious attempt to eliminate our missiles," KCNA said.

The statement was in contrast to more conciliatory comments it made earlier this year aimed at securing peace talks with the United States but came after Pyongyang officials stormed out of talks with the South this month.

Some 200,000 South Korean and 12,800 US troops will take part in the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drills, which the North has labelled a preparation for war.

Key Resolve, a command post exercise involving computer simulation, will last until March 10. Part of Foal Eagle, a joint air, ground and naval training exercise, will continue through April 30.

The exercise reportedly includes scenarios such as localised provocations, tracing weapons of mass destruction, a sudden regime change in the communist state and an exodus of refugees, Yonhap news agency reported.

It also said the US planned to deploy it 97,000-tonne aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan for the drills.

Cross-border tension has been acute since the North's deadly shelling of a frontier island in November that killed four South Koreans including two civilians and sparked fears of war.

The first attack on civilians since the 1950-53 Korean War prompted Seoul to stage a series of military drills alone or with the United States and to expand regular exercises in a show of force against Pyongyang.

The South also revived a propaganda campaign across the heavily-fortified border targeting ordinary North Koreans -- a practice it had suspended since 2000 due to protests by the North.

Conservative opposition politician Song Young-Sun, citing a report from the defence ministry, said on Friday balloons carrying humanitarian supplies such as medicine and clothes were being launched across the border by the military.

She said the balloons also carried news of civil uprisings against repressive regimes in the Arab World and were aimed at getting information to the people of North Korea, who are largely cut off from the outside world.

The South's private activists also have for years used helium balloons to smuggle US dollar notes, DVDs and leaflets denouncing the North's regime and leader Kim Jong-Il into the hermit state.

The North threatened on Sunday it would begin firing on border areas where the South's activists and military launch the balloons.

"Our army will stage a direct fire at... sources of the anti-DPRK psychological warfare to destroy them on the principle of self-defence, if such actions last despite our repeated warning," KCNA said.

Pyongyang tightly controls access to the Internet and attempts to block other sources of information about the outside world. But DVDs and mobile phones smuggled from China have been eroding barriers.

A survey by two US academics of some 1,600 refugees from the North found that roughly half of them had access to foreign news or entertainment -- a sharp rise from the 1990s.

A report said Sunday South Korea would send back 31 North Korean workers this week who had drifted across the two countries' tense sea border earlier this month.

South Korea was close to completing investigations on the 11 men and 20 women, none of whom had expressed an intention to defect to the South, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a Seoul official.