North Korea vows to cancel Korean War cease-fire
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's military is vowing to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War, straining already frayed ties between Washington and Pyongyang as the United Nations moves to impose punishing sanctions over the North's recent nuclear test.
Without elaborating, the Korean People's Army Supreme Command boasted of having "lighter and smaller nukes" and warned late Tuesday of "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula.
The statement cited ongoing U.S.-South Korean joint military drills that Pyongyang propaganda considers invasion preparation, and a U.S.-led push to secure a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for sanctions in response to North Korea's Feb. 12 nuclear test. A U.S.-China draft resolution is expected to be circulated at the U.N. this week.
Heated military rhetoric is common from North Korea when tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula and during U.S.-South Korean war drills, and Pyongyang has previously threatened to tear up the cease-fire. But this latest statement is unusually specific in its details and is seen as noteworthy by officials in Seoul because a senior North Korean military official issued the threats on state TV.
The North's statement threatens to block a communications line between North Korea and the United States at the border village separating the two Koreas, and to nullify the 60-year-old Korean War armistice agreement on March 11, when two weeks of U.S.-South Korean military drills will draw 10,000 South Korean and 3,500 U.S. forces. Another round of drills between the allies began earlier this month.
Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and rocket launches, and the subsequent call for U.N. punishment, have increased already high animosity between the North and Washington and Seoul.
The United States and others worry that North Korea's third nuclear test takes it a big step closer toward its goal of having nuclear-armed missiles that can reach America, and condemn its nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Korea's largely destitute people.
North Korea says its nuclear program is a response to U.S. hostility that dates to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically in a state of war.
Even amid the tension, however, North Korea has recently welcomed high-profile American visitors, including former basketball star Dennis Rodman, known for his piercings and tattoos as much as his Hall of Fame career with the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls.
Rodman met the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, called him an "awesome guy" and said Kim wanted President Barack Obama to call him. The trip was criticized for giving the authoritarian leader a propaganda boost, but Rodman suggested "basketball diplomacy" could warm relations. Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a four-day trip in January, but did not meet Kim.
North Korean propaganda regularly cites decades-old, Cold War-era American threats as the reason for its nuclear efforts and holds that the North remains at risk of an unprovoked nuclear attack. Washington and others say brinksmanship is the North's true motive for the nuclear push.
The North's statement called U.S.-South Korean military drills a "dangerous nuclear war targeted at us."
"We aim to launch surgical strikes at any time and any target without being bounded by the armistice accord and advance our long-cherished wish for national unification," the statement said.
The U.S.-China draft resolution at the U.N. would impose some of the strongest sanctions ever ordered by the United Nations, diplomats said. It reflects the U.N. Security Council's growing anger over the country's defiance of three previous rounds of sanctions aimed at halting all nuclear and missile tests.
The draft resolution would make it significantly harder for North Korea to move around the funds it needs to carry out its illicit programs.
It would also strengthen existing sanctions that bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology and from importing or exporting material for these programs. It would strengthen the inspection of suspect cargo bound to and from the country.
Many analysts believe that the success of this new round of sanctions depends largely on how well China enforces them. Most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based in China.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said President Barack Obama and the American people want to see North Korean leader Kim Jung Un engage in peace talks.
Kerry also stressed that the United States will continue "to do what is necessary to defend our nation and the region together with our allies."
Without elaborating, the Korean People's Army Supreme Command boasted of having "lighter and smaller nukes" and warned late Tuesday of "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula.
The statement cited ongoing U.S.-South Korean joint military drills that Pyongyang propaganda considers invasion preparation, and a U.S.-led push to secure a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for sanctions in response to North Korea's Feb. 12 nuclear test. A U.S.-China draft resolution is expected to be circulated at the U.N. this week.
Heated military rhetoric is common from North Korea when tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula and during U.S.-South Korean war drills, and Pyongyang has previously threatened to tear up the cease-fire. But this latest statement is unusually specific in its details and is seen as noteworthy by officials in Seoul because a senior North Korean military official issued the threats on state TV.
The North's statement threatens to block a communications line between North Korea and the United States at the border village separating the two Koreas, and to nullify the 60-year-old Korean War armistice agreement on March 11, when two weeks of U.S.-South Korean military drills will draw 10,000 South Korean and 3,500 U.S. forces. Another round of drills between the allies began earlier this month.
Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and rocket launches, and the subsequent call for U.N. punishment, have increased already high animosity between the North and Washington and Seoul.
The United States and others worry that North Korea's third nuclear test takes it a big step closer toward its goal of having nuclear-armed missiles that can reach America, and condemn its nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Korea's largely destitute people.
North Korea says its nuclear program is a response to U.S. hostility that dates to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically in a state of war.
Even amid the tension, however, North Korea has recently welcomed high-profile American visitors, including former basketball star Dennis Rodman, known for his piercings and tattoos as much as his Hall of Fame career with the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls.
Rodman met the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, called him an "awesome guy" and said Kim wanted President Barack Obama to call him. The trip was criticized for giving the authoritarian leader a propaganda boost, but Rodman suggested "basketball diplomacy" could warm relations. Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a four-day trip in January, but did not meet Kim.
North Korean propaganda regularly cites decades-old, Cold War-era American threats as the reason for its nuclear efforts and holds that the North remains at risk of an unprovoked nuclear attack. Washington and others say brinksmanship is the North's true motive for the nuclear push.
The North's statement called U.S.-South Korean military drills a "dangerous nuclear war targeted at us."
"We aim to launch surgical strikes at any time and any target without being bounded by the armistice accord and advance our long-cherished wish for national unification," the statement said.
The U.S.-China draft resolution at the U.N. would impose some of the strongest sanctions ever ordered by the United Nations, diplomats said. It reflects the U.N. Security Council's growing anger over the country's defiance of three previous rounds of sanctions aimed at halting all nuclear and missile tests.
The draft resolution would make it significantly harder for North Korea to move around the funds it needs to carry out its illicit programs.
It would also strengthen existing sanctions that bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology and from importing or exporting material for these programs. It would strengthen the inspection of suspect cargo bound to and from the country.
Many analysts believe that the success of this new round of sanctions depends largely on how well China enforces them. Most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based in China.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said President Barack Obama and the American people want to see North Korean leader Kim Jung Un engage in peace talks.
Kerry also stressed that the United States will continue "to do what is necessary to defend our nation and the region together with our allies."
On a side note this picture of their training... reminds me of Indiana Jones... the guy with the sword looks all scary then he just pulls out a gun and shoots him...
North Korea... you cannot sneeze without us knowing about it... stop being so juvenile - North Korea at this point is just itching to become a marvel in a glass collection. As if North Korea would last 30 seconds if we just outright sad you ask for it you got it... boom! ... Wonder what China has to say about its distant neighbor right now....
Waah ! Baby wants his bottle !
Too bad Bush was all bark and no bite back in the mid 2000s when he said that N. Korea wouldn't develop nuclear weapons under his watch. And by the end of his presidency, they were already doing tests. Â
Frankly North Korea worries me much more than Iran.Â
@lakeview The industries that control our president, politicians and thus, our war machine dont want N Korea, they want oil and cheap labor. Thats why they ignore the daily threats to our last two allies and us coming from N Korea. In contrast, those same industries are very interested in owning Iran so despite your concerns, we will continue to try and draw Iran into war with our unlawful acts of aggression, unlawful acts of war, and attacks on Iran and its citizens and leave N Korea alone. Iran and Syria have a mutual protection agreement between them and that is the basis for our recent involvement in Syria in hopes of forcing Iran to come to Syria's aid and thus we can reinvent the WMDs scenario and reap the profits.
Most problems with N Korea, Iran, the middle east come directly from our actions furthering the agenda of corporate america. Ever hear anyone threaten Canada, Norway, Sweden, or Finland to name a very few? Nobody nowhere is so caught up in hatred from so many directions as the US and it all stems from greed and not from jealousy as some people have been made to believe.
We have basically become corporate america's war machine to enrich the rich at ours and the world's expense. Dont admit you're a US citizen anywhere but here, nobody likes you and you are at risk.
Keep in mind that we allowed this to happen and allow it to continue and a lack of outrage over it merely condones it.
It sounds like South Korea should tax its citizens more to pay for defending itself against North Korea. In the US each of us pay $711 toward defense. In South Korea each person pays $42.10 for defense. The US has 26,000 troop on the border. Let South Korea pay for those troops.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures
@rockguy Those 26,000 troops are protecting US corporate interests. Let the corporations pay for it.
This has all the makings of good theater..... I guess Kim's feelings truly are hurt that Obama won't show him any love by calling!
@Funky-Munky Pres Obama how come you don't call or write... wha....wha....wha.... shutdup Kim!
@Funky-Munky Give it time. Obustard will kiss his arse soon.
The biggest danger from that little dude taking a swing is his wristwatch might stretch out and smack your cheek. That's a lot of badassery in one small package.
gosh dang it Rodman... Â what did you tell them??!!
@TruthinAdverts He told them, "Don't worry about Obustard. Obustard LOVES everybody that HATES America".