North Korea put its armed forces on standby for war yesterday and threatened retaliation against anyone seeking to stop the regime from launching a satellite into space. Pyongyang also cut off a military hotline with South Korea, causing a complete shutdown of their border and stranding hundreds of South Koreans working in an industrial zone in the North Korean border city of Kaesong.
Yesterday’s warning came as US and South Korean troops began annual war games, exercises the North has condemned as preparation for an invasion.
Analysts say the regime is trying to grab US President Barack Obama’s attention as his administration formulates its North Korea policy.
PHOTO: AFP
The North also indicated it was pushing ahead with plans to fire a communications satellite into space, a provocative launch neighboring governments believe could be a cover for a missile test.
US and Japanese officials have suggested they could shoot down a North Korean missile if necessary, further incensing Pyongyang.
“Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war,” the general staff of the North’s military said in a statement carried yesterday by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Any interception will draw “a just retaliatory strike operation not only against all the interceptor means involved but against the strongholds” of the US, Japan and South Korea, it said.
The North has ordered military personnel “fully combat ready” for war, KCNA said in a separate dispatch.
Obama’s special envoy on North Korea again urged Pyongyang not to fire a missile, which he said would be an “extremely ill-advised” move.
“Whether they describe it as a satellite launch or something else makes no difference” since both would violate a UN Security Council resolution banning the North from ballistic activity, Stephen Bosworth told reporters after talks with his South Korean counterpart.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae downplayed the North’s threats as “rhetoric,” but said the country’s military was ready to deal with any contingencies.
Analysts say a satellite or missile launch could occur late this month or early next month when the North’s new legislature, elected on Sunday, is expected to convene its first session to confirm Kim Jong-il as leader.
Severing the military hot line for the duration of the 12-day joint US-South Korean military exercises leaves the two Koreas without any means of communication at a time when an accidental skirmish could develop into a full-blown battle.
The two Koreas use the hot line to exchange information about goods and people crossing into Kaesong. Its suspension halted traffic and stranded about 570 South Koreans who were working in Kaesong. About 80 had planned to return to the South yesterday but were stuck overnight since they cannot travel after nightfall.
Earlier, some 700 South Koreans who intended to go to Kaesong yesterday were unable to cross the border, the Unification Ministry said. All South Koreans in Kaesong are safe, the ministry said as it called on Pyongyang to restore the hot line immediately.
EYE ON 2027: The US military has placed equipment, materiel and personnel on the islands near China, a US officer said while warning about the threat from China The US Army Pacific (USARPAC) is deploying forces and equipment across the region based on the assumption that Beijing could possess the military capability and the intent to invade Taiwan by next year, a top US commander said on Tuesday. Speaking at the TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Honolulu, US General Ronald Clark said that the threat posed by the so-called “Davidson window” is “still valid,” US military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday. The term stems from a 2021 warning by Admiral Philip Davidson, then-head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, that the threat of Chinese military action against Taiwan could materialize
‘ONE CHINA’ DECISION: A Cabinet spokesperson said that Pakistan had pandered to Beijing, and disregarded international rules and reality with the overflight ban The first Taiwanese commercial aircraft since restrictions were lifted flew over Pakistan yesterday morning following an abrupt U-turn by authorities to approve permits that were briefly revoked due to Islamabad’s “one China” policy. EVA Airways (長榮航空) Flight 65 from Taipei to Vienna entered Pakistani airspace at about 3:30am local time, Flightradar24 tracking data showed. All other Europe-bound EVA Air and China Airlines (華航) flights that departed late on Wednesday night into early yesterday morning opted to use Russian airspace, or go via India. The airlines had been forced to detour, including flying over Russia, since Sunday, after Pakistan shut its airspace to Taiwanese
BUILDING LINKS: Taipei and Europe should cooperate ‘so that no single supplier and no single government can hold our shared future hostage,’ an official said Beijing has no say in Taiwan’s partnerships with European countries, Formosa Club acting chair Rihards Kols, a member of the European Parliament (MEP), told a forum in Taipei yesterday. The Formosa Club, an interparliamentary group of European lawmakers, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cohosted the Trusted Technology Forum for Democracies, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and drone technologies. In his opening speech, Kols said it is crucial that people meet and understand each other’s concerns, and work out how they can help. The club has brought European parliamentarians to the second annual forum to understand Taiwan better and seek
Taiwan yesterday welcomed and expressed appreciation for foreign ministers from the US, Japan and South Korea for emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait at a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun to review the progress of a trilateral partnership that aims to advance security and prosperity in a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the US Department of State said in a statement. They emphasized
RSS