U.N. command rejects N. Korean nullification of Korean War truce

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- The U.S.-led United Nations Command in South Korea on
Thursday rejected the claim by North Korea that it is no longer bound by the
truce that halted war on the Korean Peninsula.

"The armistice remains in force and is binding on all signatories, including
North Korea," it said in a release, one day after Pyongyang declared it "will not
be bound" to the 1953 deal that ended the three-year Korean War.
"The armistice has served as the legal basis for the ceasefire in Korea for over
55 years," an unidentified U.N. Command spokesman said in the statement. "The U.N
Command will adhere to the terms of the armistice and the mechanisms that support
it."
Tension runs high on the divided peninsula after North Korea carried out its
second nuclear test Monday and fired a series of short-range missiles off its
east coast.
The country, which conducted its first underground atomic test in October 2006,
has also threatened the safety of U.S. and South Korean naval vessels near the
Yellow Sea border.
The U.S. has 28,500 troops stationed here as a deterrent against North Korea. It
fought on the South Korean side under the U.N. command in the Korean War.
The series of North Korean threats prompted the U.S. and South Korea to raise
their military surveillance on Thursday of the communist state to the second
highest level for the first time since 2006.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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