ID :
41342
Sun, 01/18/2009 - 19:59
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/41342
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean political parties rap N. Korea`s military threats
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's rival political parties joined hands
Sunday to accuse North Korea of escalating tension on the peninsula, a day after
the North's military declared an "all-out confrontational posture" against the
South.
Seoul-Pyongyang ties have been frosty since conservative President Lee Myung-bak
took office in Seoul early last year. Following a series of anti-Seoul moves, the
North's military on Saturday raised tension further by vowing to "shatter" the
South.
South Korea immediately responded by putting its entire military on heightened
alert, warning that armed conflits might take place in disputed waters in the
Yellow Sea, following two naval skirmishes in the area in 1999 and 2002 that left
scores of sailors killed or wounded on both sides.
"In short, (the latest military threats) reflect North Korea's fear for dialogue
and fret over a failure to crack the South Korea-U.S. alliance," Yoon Sang-hyun,
a spokesman for the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), said in a statement.
Yoon said North Korea was apparently attempting to add a sense of national
insecurity to mounting economic woes gripping South Korea. "But its intention is
miscalculated. South Korea is not such a weak country," he said.
Yoon echoed some analysts' view that the North might be trying to distract
attention from the reported illness of leader Kim Jong-il. South Korean and U.S.
intelligence believe the 66-year-old leader is recovering from a stroke he
suffered last summer year.
The main opposition Democratic Party also expressed regret over North Korea's
saber-rattling.
"First of all, North Korea's position is regrettable," party spokeswoman Kim
Yoo-jung said, adding that the Lee government, which has been taking a hard-line
stance on Pyongyang, is also to blame for the tension.
"The government should change its North Korea policy and show the political will
to improve inter-Korean ties," she said.
In an acerbic statement read on national Pyongyang television networks on
Saturday, a North Korean army spokesman, in full military uniform, warned that
further retaliatory steps would be taken against South Korea.
"Now that traitor Lee Myung-Bak and his group opted for confrontation... our
revolutionary armed forces are compelled to take an all-out confrontational
posture to shatter them," he said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
Sunday to accuse North Korea of escalating tension on the peninsula, a day after
the North's military declared an "all-out confrontational posture" against the
South.
Seoul-Pyongyang ties have been frosty since conservative President Lee Myung-bak
took office in Seoul early last year. Following a series of anti-Seoul moves, the
North's military on Saturday raised tension further by vowing to "shatter" the
South.
South Korea immediately responded by putting its entire military on heightened
alert, warning that armed conflits might take place in disputed waters in the
Yellow Sea, following two naval skirmishes in the area in 1999 and 2002 that left
scores of sailors killed or wounded on both sides.
"In short, (the latest military threats) reflect North Korea's fear for dialogue
and fret over a failure to crack the South Korea-U.S. alliance," Yoon Sang-hyun,
a spokesman for the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), said in a statement.
Yoon said North Korea was apparently attempting to add a sense of national
insecurity to mounting economic woes gripping South Korea. "But its intention is
miscalculated. South Korea is not such a weak country," he said.
Yoon echoed some analysts' view that the North might be trying to distract
attention from the reported illness of leader Kim Jong-il. South Korean and U.S.
intelligence believe the 66-year-old leader is recovering from a stroke he
suffered last summer year.
The main opposition Democratic Party also expressed regret over North Korea's
saber-rattling.
"First of all, North Korea's position is regrettable," party spokeswoman Kim
Yoo-jung said, adding that the Lee government, which has been taking a hard-line
stance on Pyongyang, is also to blame for the tension.
"The government should change its North Korea policy and show the political will
to improve inter-Korean ties," she said.
In an acerbic statement read on national Pyongyang television networks on
Saturday, a North Korean army spokesman, in full military uniform, warned that
further retaliatory steps would be taken against South Korea.
"Now that traitor Lee Myung-Bak and his group opted for confrontation... our
revolutionary armed forces are compelled to take an all-out confrontational
posture to shatter them," he said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
