NKorea denounces US-SKorea military exercise, vows to increase war deterrent

NKorea denounces US-SKorea military exercise, vows to increase war deterrent

The Associated Press
Thursday, August 2, 2007

SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea denounced a planned joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, describing it Friday as an unacceptable provocation and preparation for an invasion of the communist nation.
The North routinely criticizes the annual Ulchi Focus Lens drill as a rehearsal for a northward invasion, although U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly said the exercise — staged since 1975 — is purely defensive. This year's drill is set for Aug. 20-31.
The drill is aimed at "stifling (the North) with force and is an unacceptable provocation that drives the Korean peninsula situation to the phase of an extreme confrontation," the North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The exercise is set to involve about 10,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and abroad, and a "small number" of U.S. personnel will travel to South Korea for the drill, according to the U.S. military. The North has been notified of the exercise plan by U.S. forces.
The North claimed the exercise "poses obstacles to efforts to resolve" the standoff over the country's nuclear programs and hinders reconciliation between the two Koreas.
"It remains our position that we respond with good faith to good faith and with merciless punishment to provocation," it said. "Our army and the people will further solidify our war deterrent."
The North's reference to its "deterrent" usually refers to its nuclear programs.
Pyongyang shut down its sole functioning nuclear reactor last month in exchange for energy aid under a deal with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. The February deal also calls for Pyongyang to disclose all its nuclear programs and disable facilities.
About 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a cease-fire, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war.



BBC NEWS
N Korea condemns joint war games
North Korea has condemned plans for a joint military exercise between South Korea and the US later this month.
Pyongyang called the 11-day exercise an "intolerable act of provocation" that threatened recent progress over its nuclear programme.
The North regularly denounces the annual Ulchi Focus Lens drill as preparation for an attack against it.
Seoul and Washington insist the exercises, which began in 1975, are purely for defensive purposes.
The Ulchi Focus Lens drill, which is this year set for 20-31 August, is one of the world's largest computer-simulated war games.
This year, it is expected to involve 10,000 US troops, most of them stationed in South Korea, and an undisclosed number of South Korean troops.
'Extreme confrontation'
North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland denounced the war games in a statement carried on the country's official media.
The drill is "an intolerable act of provocation, which is driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to a phase of extreme confrontation", the statement said.
The committee said the exercise "poses obstacles to efforts to resolve" the nuclear disarmament issue and improving inter-Korean relations.
The North warned that it would respond by working to "further solidify our war deterrent".
The North frequently uses the word "deterrent" when referring to its nuclear programme, correspondents say.
Pyongyang provoked international alarm and condemnation last October after carrying out its first nuclear test.
But last month, the North shut down its only functioning nuclear reactor, Yongbyon, as part of a landmark deal agreed at multi-party talks in February.
Efforts are now under way for the North and its partners in the talks - the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia - to move on to the next phase of the deal, which involves permanently disabling its nuclear facilities.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6928973.stm
Published: 2007/08/03 07:15:32 GMT
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