South Korea and the US yesterday commenced large-scale military exercises, triggering condemnation and threats of a pre-emptive nuclear strike from North Korea.
The two-week annual Ulchi Freedom drill, which plays out a scenario of full-scale invasion by the nuclear-armed North, is largely computer-simulated, but still involves about 50,000 South Korean and 25,000 US soldiers.
The exercise always triggers a rise in tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula, and this year it coincides with particularly volatile cross-border relations following a series of high-profile defections.
Photo: AP
The North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned Ulchi Freedom as an “unpardonable criminal act” that could bring the peninsula to “the brink of war.”
Meanwhile, the Korean People’s Army (KPA) threatened a military response to what it described as a rehearsal for a surprise nuclear attack and invasion of the North.
North Korea’s frontline units were “fully ready to mount a preemptive retaliatory strike at all enemy attack groups involved,” a KPA General Staff spokesman said.
The slightest violation of North Korea’s territorial sovereignty would result in the source of the provocation being turned “into a heap of ashes through Korean-style pre-emptive nuclear strike,” the spokesman said.
The North’s main ally China voiced its opposition to Ulchi Freedom, with a commentary published by the Xinhua news agency saying it would only make Pyongyang “more aggressive” at an already sensitive time.
As the drill began, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said a recent spate of headline-grabbing defections from North Korea signaled political turmoil in Pyongyang that could cause the leadership there to lash out against the South.
“It is increasingly possible that North Korea may undertake various terror attacks and provocations... to block internal unrest, prevent further defections and create confusion in our society,” Park told a meeting of her National Security Council.
On Sunday, the South Korean Ministry of Unification urged all citizens to be on guard against possible North Korean assassination attempts on defectors and anti-Pyongyang activists in the South.
Park said the South’s military was on high alert and would “vigorously strike back” in the event of any hostile action.
Last month, Pyongyan severed its only direct communications link with the US when it closed the so-called “New York channel” which had previously served as a key point of contact between North Korean and US diplomats at the UN.
A nuclear test in January heightened North Korea’s isolation as the international community, backed by the North’s main diplomatic protector China, imposed substantially upgraded economic sanctions.
Last week, North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain Thae Yong-ho defected to the South — a rare and damaging loss of diplomatic face for Pyongyang and a major PR victory for Seoul.
The North’s official KCNA news agency described Thae as “human scum” and said he had fled to avoid criminal charges including embezzling funds and raping a minor.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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