ID :
46361
Thu, 02/19/2009 - 10:19
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/46361
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N. Korean military again threatens all-out confrontation: KCNA
SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- The North Korean military Wednesday threatened South Korea with an all-out confrontation amid reports that Pyongyang is also about to test-fire short- and long-range missiles to heighten tensions at the beginning of a new U.S. administration.
"The Lee Myung-bak group of traitors should never forget that the Korean People's
Army is fully ready for an all-out confrontation," said a spokesman for the North
Korean Army's chief of staff, according to the North's official Korean Central
News Agency.
The warning is the second of its kind in about a month. A uniformed military
spokesman appeared on North Korean television on Jan. 17 to warn that the
military will "take an all-out confrontational posture" against South Korea. It
was the first message from the North Korean army's General Staff in 10 years.
The repeated threats from North Korea in recent weeks are said to be upping the
ante as Barack Obama's U.S. administration formulates its policy on North Korea,
including possible resumption of six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear
ambitions.
The North's military spokesman also said in answer to a question by the KCNA that
the Lee Myung-bak government "is desperately trying to find a way out of its
serious crisis in escalating the confrontation with the DPRK." DPRK stands for
North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Describing Lee as a "traitor," the spokesman said the conservative Lee
administration, which has taken a tougher stance on the North than its two
liberal predecessors, is "more frantically inciting hostility toward the DPRK and
kicking up anti-DPRK war hysteria under that pretext."
"But they will only meet the merciless and stern punishment by the army and
people of the DPRK," he said.
North Korea has recently also threatened to cut off all ties with South Korea,
nullify the western sea border, where bloody skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 killed
scores on both sides, and launch a long-range missile believed to be capable of
reaching the continental U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday warned North Korea not to test
launch a missile and urged Pyongyang to refrain from provocative words and
actions. Clinton pledged that if the North abandons its nuclear arsenal under a
six-party deal, the U.S. would normalize ties, establish a permanent peace regime
to replace the fragile armistice and provide massive economic aid.
Clinton is due in Seoul Thursday on the third leg of her four-nation Asian tour,
her first overseas trip since taking office late last month, to discuss ways to
resume the six-party talks and other issues of mutual and regional concern.
The multilateral nuclear talks, which began in 2003, stalled again in December as
North Korea refused to agree to a verification protocol for its nuclear
facilities.
"The Lee Myung-bak group of traitors should never forget that the Korean People's
Army is fully ready for an all-out confrontation," said a spokesman for the North
Korean Army's chief of staff, according to the North's official Korean Central
News Agency.
The warning is the second of its kind in about a month. A uniformed military
spokesman appeared on North Korean television on Jan. 17 to warn that the
military will "take an all-out confrontational posture" against South Korea. It
was the first message from the North Korean army's General Staff in 10 years.
The repeated threats from North Korea in recent weeks are said to be upping the
ante as Barack Obama's U.S. administration formulates its policy on North Korea,
including possible resumption of six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear
ambitions.
The North's military spokesman also said in answer to a question by the KCNA that
the Lee Myung-bak government "is desperately trying to find a way out of its
serious crisis in escalating the confrontation with the DPRK." DPRK stands for
North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Describing Lee as a "traitor," the spokesman said the conservative Lee
administration, which has taken a tougher stance on the North than its two
liberal predecessors, is "more frantically inciting hostility toward the DPRK and
kicking up anti-DPRK war hysteria under that pretext."
"But they will only meet the merciless and stern punishment by the army and
people of the DPRK," he said.
North Korea has recently also threatened to cut off all ties with South Korea,
nullify the western sea border, where bloody skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 killed
scores on both sides, and launch a long-range missile believed to be capable of
reaching the continental U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday warned North Korea not to test
launch a missile and urged Pyongyang to refrain from provocative words and
actions. Clinton pledged that if the North abandons its nuclear arsenal under a
six-party deal, the U.S. would normalize ties, establish a permanent peace regime
to replace the fragile armistice and provide massive economic aid.
Clinton is due in Seoul Thursday on the third leg of her four-nation Asian tour,
her first overseas trip since taking office late last month, to discuss ways to
resume the six-party talks and other issues of mutual and regional concern.
The multilateral nuclear talks, which began in 2003, stalled again in December as
North Korea refused to agree to a verification protocol for its nuclear
facilities.
