North Korea vows to fight US 'to the last man'
North Korea today accused the United States of plotting a war against it, and vowed that it would fight “to the last man”.
The reclusive communist state has come under intense US pressure as it prepares to reactivate its suspected nuclear weapons programme in defiance of world opinion.
Two United Nations nuclear inspectors were expelled from the North and arrived back in China today.
The US is considering economic sanctions to try to solve the crisis diplomatically, but the North blames Washington for raising tensions over the issue.
“The US is stepping up preparations for a war against North Korea,” said a commentary in the North’s main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.
“If the enemy invades even an inch of the inviolable territory of North Korea, the people’s army and people of North Korea will wipe out the aggressors to the last man,” it said.
South Korea’s president-elect Roh Moo-hyun has also raised doubts about America’s strategy for containing North Korea.
He said he was worried US pressure could backfire and trigger a war on the world’s last Cold War frontier. More than two million troops are massed on both sides of the border.
“I am sceptical whether so-called ‘tailored containment’ reportedly being considered by the United States is an effective means to control or impose a surrender on North Korea,” he said.
Roh, who begins a five-year term in February, supports outgoing President Kim Dae-jung’s “sunshine” policy of engaging North Korea. They believe that dialogue is the only viable way to resolve the nuclear issue.
“Success or failure of a US policy towards North Korea is not too big a deal to the American people, but it is a life-or-death matter for South Koreans,” he said. “Therefore, any US move should fully consider South Korea’s opinion.”
About 37,000 US troops are based in South Korea as a deterrent against the North.
South Korean officials are alarmed at signs that North Korea may withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, a move that would drastically escalate the nuclear crisis.
In recent weeks, North Korea removed monitoring seals and cameras from its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, which were frozen under a deal with the United States in 1994.
North Korea says that it is willing to resolve concerns over its nuclear programme if the United States signs a non-aggression treaty. Washington has ruled out any talks before the North changes course.
