N. Korea, U.N. Command restart border talks amid rising tension

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, March 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea and the U.S.-led United Nations Command
(UNC) resumed their high-level military border talks Friday, South Korean
officials said, as the communist state steps up its warnings against a
forthcoming U.S.-South Korea military drill.

The general-grade meeting, a follow-up to the Monday talks which lasted only half
an hour, came a day after North Korea announced it will not guarantee the
security of South Korean civilian airplanes flying over its eastern waters.
It also came as North Korea is apparently moving forward with preparations to
test-fire a ballistic missile capable of threatening the western U.S., including
Alaska and Hawaii.
In Monday's meeting with the UNC delegation led by U.S. Major Gen. Johnny Weida,
North Korea demanded that the U.S. and South Korea cancel their annual combined
military exercise set for March 9-20.
The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drill is aimed at evaluating the abilities of the
two longtime allies to quickly reinforce frontline forces and deter rear
infiltration, according to their officials.
North Korea routinely argues that the exercise, which dates back to a combined
drill launched in the mid-1970's, is a war preparation designed to topple its
regime.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are regularly stationed in South Korea as a deterrent
against the North's 1.2 million troops -- a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that
ended in a ceasefire instead of a peace pact.
The U.S. operates a war plan that allows for the deployment of hundreds of
thousands of forces to the Korean Peninsula should war break out.
The UNC has yet to identify the North Korean delegation to the meeting held at
the borderline truce village of Panmunjom.
North Korea denies it is setting the stage for a missile test, claiming a
communications satellite is being readied on its east coast.
Relations between the Koreas have soured over the past year after South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak took office with a pledge to tie reconciliation to
progress in North Korean denuclearization.
Pyongyang blasts the conservative leader in Seoul, arguing he is aligning with
U.S. hardliners hoping to undermine its leadership.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)