(LEAD) N. Korea vows 'every measure' to protect itself amid S. Korea-U.S. drill

SEOUL, March 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday showed discontent with the new U.S. administration over its "words and deeds" and vowed to take "every necessary measure" to defend its sovereignty amid an ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drill.

The statement by the North's Foreign Ministry spokesman came amid heightened
tension on the Korean Peninsula, as the joint war game got underway in the South
and rocket launch preparations continued on the other side of the border.
"The DPRK, exposed to the potential threat of the U.S. and its allied forces,
will take every necessary measure to protect its sovereignty," the unnamed
spokesman said in a statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official
name.
In an uncommon move, the North directly expressed its dismay with the government
of Barack Obama.
"The new administration of the U.S. is now working hard to infringe upon the
sovereignty of the DPRK by force of arms ... after letting loose a whole string
of words and deeds little short of getting on the nerves of the DPRK and
seriously interfering in its internal affairs," the spokesman said.
The North did not elaborate, but the statement appeared to be linked to a series
of remarks recently made by senior Washington officials and reports that have
irked Pyongyang.
During her Asia trip last month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touched
on the sensitive issue of succession in North Korea, saying "the whole leadership
situation is somewhat unclear." The remarks stirred discussion in the region, as
they were the first such reference from a senior U.S. official on dealing with
the post-Kim Jong-il era.
U.S. Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the U.S. forces in Korea, told reporters
last month that South Korea and the U.S. have devised several scenarios to
prepare for all contingencies related to North Korea.
A recent U.S. human rights report continued to characterize the communist state
as a "dictatorship." The U.S. National Intelligence Service said an estimated
17-29 percent of potential North Korean military recruits are unfit for service
because of cognitive problems caused by a famine in the previous decade.
Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst with the independent Sejong Institute in Seoul,
said North Korea was specifically taking on the U.S. State Department with its
Foreign Ministry statement.
"The North is sending its message clearly that the U.S. needs to acknowledge the
North Korean regime and respect it as a partner for dialogue," Cheong said.
The North also said inter-Korean relations are in their "worst phase" and "a war
may break out any moment" due to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's policy of
"confrontation."
South Korea and the U.S. say their annual drills are purely defensive. In this
year's Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercise, the U.S. introduced a nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier to test its ability to quickly deploy forces should North Korea
invade. About 25,000 U.S. troops and 20,000 South Korean troops are taking part
in the 12-day drill.
"The war maneuvers are nuclear war exercises designed to mount a preemptive
attack on the DPRK in terms of their scale and contents from A to Z," the North's
spokesman said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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