North Korea steps up war of words
North Korea today vowed to take further “self-defence” measures if provoked by the UN Security Council, which is discussing how to punish the regime for its nuclear test.
Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry also said in a statement the country will not recognise any Security Council resolutions unless the council first apologises for criticising Pyongyang’s rocket launch last month.
“It will be inevitable for us to take further self-defence measures” if the council provokes the North, the statement said.
Tensions have been running high after the North conducted its second nuclear test and missile launches this week, rising further today as Chinese fishing boats pulled away from its coast, possibly to avoid skirmishes between the Koreas.
The North has been strident since its test – which it has also called a self-defensive measure. It did not specify what further action it was considering in response to UN resolutions, nor what it would consider a provocation.
Fears have increased of military skirmishes, particularly in disputed waters off the western coast, after North Korea conducted the nuclear test on Monday and then renounced the truce keeping peace between the Koreas since 1953.
The waters were the site of two deadly clashes in 1999 and 2002.
From Yeonpyeong, the South Korean island closest to the North, about a dozen Chinese ships could be seen pulling out of port in the North and heading elsewhere. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that more than 280 Chinese vessels were fishing in the area earlier this week, but the number has dropped to about 140.
It was not clear if the Chinese vessels, in the area for the crabbing season, were told by the North to leave or if they were leaving on their own for fear of clashes at sea.
South Korean and US troops facing North Korea raised their surveillance on Thursday to its highest level since 2006, when North Korea tested its first nuclear device. About 28,000 American troops are stationed across the South.
North Korea, whose 1.2-million strong military is one of the world’s largest, says it is merely preparing to defend itself against what it says are plans by the US to launch a pre-emptive strike to overthrow its communist government.
The US has repeatedly denied any intention to attack North Korea.
In Washington, the Army’s top officer, Gen George Casey, expressed confidence that the US could fight a conventional war against North Korea if necessary, despite continuing conflicts elsewhere.
But US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said the situation is not a crisis and no additional US troops will be sent to the region.
Gates, en route to Singapore for regional defence talks, tried to lower the temperature.
“I don’t think that anybody in the (Obama) administration thinks there is a crisis,” Gates told reporters aboard his military jet early today.
Meanwhile, talks at the United Nations Security Council over possible sanctions for the nuclear test were moving forward slowly.
Russia’s UN ambassador said there was wide agreement among key world powers on what a new UN resolution should include, but said putting the elements together will take time because the issues are “complicated”.
A list of proposals was sent on Wednesday to the five permanent veto-wielding council members – the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France – and the two countries most closely affected by the nuclear test, Japan and South Korea.
Diplomats said a draft of the proposed resolution is not expected to be circulated until next week.
