S. Korean defense chief warns N. Korea's threats futile

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top defense official said Tuesday North
Korea's military threats have increased across the board, even though the
communist state has "nothing to gain" by raising tension.
The remarks by Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee came as North Korea is believed by
its neighbors to be preparing to test-fire a ballistic missile that could
theoretically reach Alaska.
The North, which has cut off all military communication lines with the South,
warned Monday that it would retaliate against any attempt to intercept what it
calls a rocket carrying a satellite into orbit.
Its 1.2 million troops remain on a full combat-ready posture, according to its
media, as South Korea and the United States have opened their annual joint
military exercise this week.
The impoverished state has warned of a clash in the western waters where naval
battles turned deadly twice over the past decade, and threatened South Korean
commercial airlines using its airspace.
"The recent series of provocative and tension-raising rhetoric and acts are not
only straining inter-Korean relations but also making it impossible to rule out
the possibility of clashes in land, sea and air," Lee told a group of about 210
newly commissioned officers graduating from an Army academy in Seoul.
"We will push to make (North Korea) realize that there is nothing to earn through
acts that raise tension and that such moves will never be of help," he said.
North Korea accuses South Korea and the U.S. of preparing for war through their
March 9-20 Key Resolve and Foal Eagle training exercise, even though the allies
stress it is purely defensive.
The relations between the Koreas degraded to their lowest level in a decade after
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office with a pledge to get tougher on
Pyongyang.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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