N. Korea says nuclear war only matter of time

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional background)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, April 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Friday the outbreak of a nuclear war
on the Korean Peninsula is only a matter of time due to what it claims are
efforts by South Korea and the United States to bring it to its knees by force.
"When a nuclear war will break out due to the war chariot of the 'South
Korea-U.S. military alliance' is a matter of time," the North said in an
information bulletin carried by its official Korean Central News Agency.
The bulletin was issued by the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of Korea, a state organization that handles inter-Korean relations.
The accusation was aimed at a recent inspection of the South Korean and U.S. Air
Force here by the American commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces
Command (CFC), Gen. Walter Sharp, and his South Korean deputy, Gen. Lee
Sung-chool.
"The above-said war hysteria kicked up under the signboard of 'flight for
commanding the air operation' and 'combined operation' is an unpardonable
military provocation and an undisguised hostile act against the DPRK," the
bulletin said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea.
An official at the CFC dismissed the accusation as groundless, saying the recent
flight by CFC commanders was only part of a routine inspection.
"The 'military alliance' with the U.S. to whom the South Korean sycophantic and
treacherous forces look up (to) as a 'guardian deity' will only bring unbearable
misfortune, pain and a nuclear war disaster to the Korean nation including south
Koreans and the Korean Peninsula," the bulletin said.
Pyongyang has claimed to be a nuclear state since it detonated a nuclear device
in its first-ever nuclear test in 2006, but Seoul and Washington refuse to
recognize the North as a nuclear power, saying the 2006 test was a general
failure.
The North's latest threat comes after the U.N. Security Council this week adopted
a presidential statement condemning the North's recent launch of a long-range
rocket and urging the communist nation to refrain from any future missile tests.
The North claimed the launch was for a space development program.
North Korea responded with a threat to pull out of the six-nation
denuclearization talks that involve the two Koreas, Japan, China, Russia and the
U.S.
Pyongyang has also ordered all international nuclear monitors to leave the
country while vowing to restart its key nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, which
have been undergoing a dismantlement process per a 2007 six-nation deal.
"The U.S. and the South Korean puppets would be gravely mistaken if they think
they can bring the DPRK on its knees by force," the bulletin said. DPRK stands
for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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