ID :
56429
Mon, 04/20/2009 - 18:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/56429
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean military watchful as Seoul readies talks with Pyongyang
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is closely monitoring the North Korean
military as the communist state raises tension ahead of their rare talks at a
joint industrial park, an official here said Monday.
North Korea proposed last week that the two divided states hold their first
official talks in a year at its border town of Kaesong on Tuesday.
The proposal came along with the threat by the North Korean military that South
Korea's planned expansion of its role in a U.S.-led anti-proliferation drive
would be considered a war declaration.
South Korea "should never forget that Seoul is just 50 km away from the Military
Demarcation Line," a spokesman for the General Staff of the North's Korean
People's Army said in a statement apparently intended to flaunt his country's
artillery capabilities.
"No unusual activity by North Korean forces has been detected, but we're keeping
close tabs on them because Pyongyang has repeatedly issued threats of
provocations this year," a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
The relations between the Koreas run at the lowest point in a decade after the
South's President Lee Myung-bak took office last year with a pledge to push the
North harder toward denuclearization.
North Korea has responded by cutting off all dialogue and warning of an armed
conflict along their heavily armed frontier. Further raising tension on April 5,
the North went ahead with the launch of a rocket that neighbors suspected was a
banned test of ballistic missile technology.
On Saturday, the North Korean military threatened war should South Korea go ahead
with its expansion of membership in the Proliferation Security Initiative, which
calls for members to search and seize transports suspected of being missiles and
other weapons of mass destruction.
South Korea has delayed its decision to become a full participant in the campaign
until after its talks with North Korea in Kaesong, where a South Korean worker
has been detained for over three weeks.
The Kaesong industrial complex houses about 100 labor-intensive South Korean
firms hiring nearly 40,000 North Korean employees. On March 30, North Korea
arrested a South Korean worker on charges of criticizing its political system and
trying to induce a local female employee to defect.
South Korea has been unable to investigate the charges, as it has been blocked
from meeting with the employee of Hyundai Asan, a unit of Hyundai Group that
developed the park.
North Korea has released no specific details regarding the agenda it intends to
bring up at Tuesday's talks.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is closely monitoring the North Korean
military as the communist state raises tension ahead of their rare talks at a
joint industrial park, an official here said Monday.
North Korea proposed last week that the two divided states hold their first
official talks in a year at its border town of Kaesong on Tuesday.
The proposal came along with the threat by the North Korean military that South
Korea's planned expansion of its role in a U.S.-led anti-proliferation drive
would be considered a war declaration.
South Korea "should never forget that Seoul is just 50 km away from the Military
Demarcation Line," a spokesman for the General Staff of the North's Korean
People's Army said in a statement apparently intended to flaunt his country's
artillery capabilities.
"No unusual activity by North Korean forces has been detected, but we're keeping
close tabs on them because Pyongyang has repeatedly issued threats of
provocations this year," a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
The relations between the Koreas run at the lowest point in a decade after the
South's President Lee Myung-bak took office last year with a pledge to push the
North harder toward denuclearization.
North Korea has responded by cutting off all dialogue and warning of an armed
conflict along their heavily armed frontier. Further raising tension on April 5,
the North went ahead with the launch of a rocket that neighbors suspected was a
banned test of ballistic missile technology.
On Saturday, the North Korean military threatened war should South Korea go ahead
with its expansion of membership in the Proliferation Security Initiative, which
calls for members to search and seize transports suspected of being missiles and
other weapons of mass destruction.
South Korea has delayed its decision to become a full participant in the campaign
until after its talks with North Korea in Kaesong, where a South Korean worker
has been detained for over three weeks.
The Kaesong industrial complex houses about 100 labor-intensive South Korean
firms hiring nearly 40,000 North Korean employees. On March 30, North Korea
arrested a South Korean worker on charges of criticizing its political system and
trying to induce a local female employee to defect.
South Korea has been unable to investigate the charges, as it has been blocked
from meeting with the employee of Hyundai Asan, a unit of Hyundai Group that
developed the park.
North Korea has released no specific details regarding the agenda it intends to
bring up at Tuesday's talks.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
