North Korea reminded the US yesterday that it has nuclear weapons and warned it would strike back if attacked, as a US destroyer continued to trail a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons.
The Kang Nam, previously involved in weapons shipments, is the first vessel monitored under new UN sanctions adopted after the North’s nuclear test last month. It could become a test case for interception of North Korean ships at sea — something Pyongyang has said it would consider an act of war.
US President Barack Obama said Washington was ready to cope with “any contingencies” amid reports the North appears to be preparing for a long-range missile test planned sometime around July 4, the Independence Day holiday. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered additional protections for Hawaii as a precaution.
SANCTIONS
The UN sanctions — punishment for an underground nuclear test North Korea conducted on May 25 — firm up an earlier arms embargo against North Korea and authorize ship searches in an attempt to thwart the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions.
The Kang Nam appeared headed to Myanmar via Singapore, the South Korean news network YTN reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified intelligence source in South Korea.
Myanmar’s military government, which faces an arms embargo from the US and the EU, reportedly has bought weapons from the North in the past.
Yesterday, North Korea’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper called it “nonsense” to say the country was a threat to the US. The paper also warned it was prepared to strike back if attacked.
“As long as our country has become a proud nuclear power, the US should take a correct look at whom it is dealing with,” its said in commentary. “It would be a grave mistake for the US to think it can remain unhurt if it ignites the fuse of war on the Korean Peninsula.”
The Rodong Sinmun also denounced Obama’s recent pledge to defend and protect South Korea — even promising to keep Seoul “under the US nuclear umbrella” — as an attempt to attack the North with atomic bombs.
North Korea calls its nuclear program a deterrent against the US, which Pyongyang accuses of plotting an attack. The US, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has said it has no such intentions and no nuclear weapons on the peninsula.
PROVOCATION
But Obama said the US is prepared for any North Korean provocation.
“This administration — and our military — is fully prepared for any contingencies,” Obama said on Friday during an interview with CBS News’ The Early Show that was to be broadcast yesterday.
“I don’t want to speculate on hypotheticals,” Obama said. “But I want ... to give assurances to the American people that the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted in terms of what might happen.”
Washington is considering sending former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger to China to persuade Beijing to enforce the UN sanctions against the North, Seoul’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said yesterday, citing an unidentified high-level diplomatic source.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said it could not confirm the report.
China is the North’s biggest source of food, fuel and diplomatic support, and analysts have said the success of the UN sanctions depends on how aggressively Beijing implements them.
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