Pyongyang ramps up the tension over this weekend's joint US-South Korean wargames in the Sea of Japan
North Korea has threatened to use its "nuclear deterrent" in response to planned military exercises by the US and South Korea this weekend.
The regime promised a "retaliatory sacred war" amid increased tensions on the Korean peninsula over the March sinking of a South Korean navy vessel, which Seoul and Washington blame on Pyongyang.
North Korea's National Defence Commission (NDC), headed by leader Kim Jong-il, issued the threat today for what it called a second "unpardonable" provocation for again being blamed for the incident in which 46 sailors died.
"The army and people of the [North] will legitimately counter with their powerful nuclear deterrence the largest-ever nuclear war exercises," the commission said in a statement run on the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Pyongyang routinely threatens war when its southern neighbour and the US hold joint military exercises. South Korea's defence ministry said no unusual North Korean military movements were detected.
Operation Invincible Spirit, which begins tomorrow, will involve 8,000 US and South Korean troops, 200 aircraft and 20 ships, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington.
"The more desperately the US imperialists brandish their nukes and the more zealously their lackeys follow them, the more rapidly the [North's] nuclear deterrence will be bolstered up along the orbit of self-defence and the more remote the prospect for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula will be become," the NDC statement said.
Yesterday, a North Korea spokesman, Ri Tong-il, told reporters at the Asean regional security forum in Hanoi, Vietnam, there would be a "physical response" to the drills in the Sea of Japan, which he branded another sign of US "hostility".
"It is a threat to the Korean peninsula and the region of Asia as a whole," he said, adding that the exercises harked back to 19th-century gunboat diplomacy and violated North Korea's sovereignty.
The meeting of regional powers in Hanoi has quickly become the stage for a war of words between the North and the US, although there has been no direct contact between the countries' delegates.
The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said "isolated and belligerent" North Korea would have to end its "campaign of provocative, dangerous behaviour" if it wanted better relations with the US and the rest of Asia.
North Korea has pulled out of six-party talks on its nuclear programme and is blamed for the March sinking of South Korean navy vessel the Cheonan. It denies carrying out the attack.
On Wednesday, Clinton unveiled new sanctions designed to deny luxury goods to the North Korean elite and strangle funding for Pyongyang's nuclear programme. The North says it will not return to nuclear talks unless sanctions are lifted.
Yesterday, Clinton urged Asian nations to pressure North Korea into abandoning its nuclear ambitions by enforcing strict UN sanctions imposed after the regime's second nuclear test last year.
A South Korean newspaper said the new US sanctions would target 200 North Korean-held foreign bank accounts thought to be connected with illegal activities such as nuclear weapons development, drug trafficking and counterfeiting.
"Even before the Cheonan incident, the US was tracking around 200 North Korean bank accounts in banks in China, Russia and even eastern Europe and Africa that are believed to be involved in the development of weapons of mass destruction and the export of drugs, counterfeit money, fake cigarettes and weapons," the Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
The paper said Kim Jong-il is believed to hold a US$4bn slush fund in secret accounts in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
North Korea also rejected Seoul's demand for an apology over the sinking.
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As I've suggested before the Dear Leader is dying and doubtless believes that as the Personification of the People, when he dies, they die. Might as well gone out with a bang...
revolutionman Cherokee (3.8 mt)
Joined: Jun 14, 2009
Posts: 405
Posted:
Sun Jul 25, 2010 5:51 pm
I love how every few years it is the same old.
They can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk? Nope. I say f' em. North Korea thinks they got got nuclear capabilities, whatever too bad they are about 60+ years behind a few nations we know of. U.S. and Russia circa 1952 could mangle North Korea circa 2010. What a bunch of childish idiots.
Hype. If North Korea really wants something, they should just go for it, I am anxious to see what happens.
sonicbomb Forum Admin
Joined: Aug 06, 2006
Posts: 1631
Location: UK
Posted:
Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:11 pm
I did see this briefly in the news and it filled me with a sense of dread. If anyone is mental enough to use nuclear weapons, its North Korea.
Revolutionman talks like the redneck in the movie "Deterrence", the one the president said he would sign an exective order for, exempting said redneck from taxes on the condition he never spoke to him again.
I agree with Sonic. The Dear Leader has got nothing at all to loose as he will be dead in a year or two. I reckon he is absolutely capable of incinerating Seoul and a handful of US aircraft carriers with basic 15kt fission weapons. Of course the retaliation will turn North Korea into dust but does he care? Nahhh.....
bueschu Cherokee (3.8 mt)
Joined: Mar 17, 2008
Posts: 402
Posted:
Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:36 pm
Hmm, a good friend of mine is just visiting his korean girl in Soeul. Maybe the two of them should get out of there ASAP.
Could be an idea. Samsung and LG make the best LCD TVs around. I got a 42 incher at the weekend just in case. Dont know how long the factory is gonna be around for...
bueschu Cherokee (3.8 mt)
Joined: Mar 17, 2008
Posts: 402
Posted:
Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:00 am
I once heard, the North was pointing around 10'000 artillery cannons and rockets at Soeul (which is only about 50km away from the border). Don't know if that's true, but if it is, NK certainly doesn't need nukes to wreck havoc on the South.
I reckon it will kick off there. Everyone's watching Iran but they dont have nukes neither have they tested. AIPAC and the Israel lobby are trying to focus the world's attention on Iran as it's in their interest to do so; if/when Iran gets the bomb then Israel looses it's monopoly on regional nuclear firepower.
The Dear Leader however is another thing. He had been brought up from birth to be the Emperor; in Japan they had this thing about the Emperor being a God. I reckon he really believes that and when a God dies there is no need for people so let's finish the job Daddy started (in that sense he's a bit like Bush which is even more worrying...)
"As South Korea continues to stage its military exercises, North Korea says it is prepared to respond with a nuke-fuelled “sacred war.”
The North's Defense Minister Kim Yong Chun said his country was prepared to use its nuclear deterrent against the South “to counter the enemy's intentional drive.” His statement was reported by the country’s state media and comes after a short-term lull in reaction.
The minister accused Seoul of deliberately stoking tension by staging successive joint military drills with the US next to the North's territory.
He said the latest exercise, which involved heavy military machinery, fighter jets, missile launchers and hundreds of troops was an outright preparation for an attack against Pyongyang.
The drill came in the wake of a recent cross-border artillery exchange that killed four South Koreans. Thursday’s exercise was held kilometers from the border with the North despite its warning of retaliation.
Amid continued escalation of tension, the possibility of a rash move from either side poses the greatest danger, said Glyn Ford, former EU parliament member and author of North Korea on the Brink: Struggle for Survival.
“I don’t think anyone is intending to start a full-scale war at this point,” Ford said. “But the danger with escalation is it gets out of control and that is obviously something we need to be concerned with for the future.”
If military conflict does erupt, however, the stakes would be high for a number of nations, said Aleksandr Vorontsov from the Institute of Oriental Studies.
“It would be a nightmare for many countries… and first of all it would be a nightmare for the six countries who met for six-party talks [North Korea, South Korea, China, the US, Japan and Russia]”
Blake Tewa (5 mt)
Joined: Jun 25, 2007
Posts: 680
Location: Florida
Posted:
Fri Dec 24, 2010 4:46 am
This will end up being the longest thread in the forum by bumping it with new reports of NK threatening the South with nukes. We should have started this thread several years ago.
And from the list of your mate Dubya's "axis of evil" speech in 2002, we all know that Iraq didn't have nukes after all (had to invade and kill nearly 1m of them to find out but better safe than sorry eh?), Iran still doesn't have nukes (but thanks to the aforementioned Iraq adventure not quite turning out as advertised, they will now be left alone to get on with it) but the one country that does have nukes, and have tested, is North Korea. It was not called the Unfinished War for nothing. It looks like, with all those "live fire" drills that are rattling them, you are guys are keen to finish it....
Blake Tewa (5 mt)
Joined: Jun 25, 2007
Posts: 680
Location: Florida
Posted:
Sat Dec 25, 2010 4:09 am
fastfission wrote:
It's not that long is it?
I said it will be the longest thread. I was merely making an observation that NK makes alot of threats. Had this thread been started several years ago, it would no doubt be the longest one in the forum. Yada yada yada, on with the news.
jerry0503222 Guest
Posted:
Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:10 am
Hmm, a good friend of mine is just visiting his korean girl in Soeul. Maybe the two of them should get out of there ASAP. Confused
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