U.S., South Korea on alert as North Korea continues missile threat
As tensions continue to brew with North Korea at the forefront threatening war as well as a possible missile launch, the U.S. and South Korea are taking measures to step up precautions, according to reports. A look at North and South Korea in recent days.
- South Korean Air Force’s E-737 Peace Eye, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, lands at Gimhae airport in the southeastern port city of Busan on April 10, 2013. South Korean and US forces raised their alert status to “vital threat” on April 10, before an expected North Korean missile test, with tensions wound tight during a five-day buildup to a key anniversary. (Yonhapy via AFP/Getty Images)
- South Korean activists set balloons on a banner showing pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (L) and a dove of peace (C) during a rally urging regular operations of the Kaesong joint industrial complex on the road leading to North Korea at a military checkpoint in the border city of Paju on April 10, 2013. The banner reads “We want National Defence Commission chairman Kim Jong-Un to put the Kaesong industrial complex back into operation immediately and stop nuclear and missile test launches for national peace”. South Korean and US forces raised their alert status to “vital threat” on April 10, ahead of an expected North Korean missile test, with tensions wound tight during a five-day buildup to a key anniversary. (Jung Yeon Jejung/AFP/Getty Images)
- South Korean army’s military barbed wire entanglements are seen stretched to stop people from crossing into the civilian passage restriction line near the demilitarised zone separating North Korea from South Korea in Paju, north of Seoul April 10, 2013. South Korea said on Wednesday there was “very high” probability that North Korea, engaged in weeks of threats of war, would launch a medium-range missile at any time as a show of strength despite diplomatic efforts to soften its position. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)
- An empty road connecting the KIC (Kaesong industrial complex) with the South’s CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) is reflected in sunglasses of a South Korean soldier standing guard at the South’s CIQ, just south of the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, north of Seoul April 10, 2013. South Korea said on Wednesday it has asked China, North Korea’s only major ally, to rein in the hermit state and has raised its surveillance after the North moved at least one long-range missile in readiness for a possible launch. (Kim Hong-Jii/Reuters)
- Japan’s Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera inspects units of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles (in background) at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo April 10, 2013. Japan has deployed ground-based PAC-3 interceptors, as well as Aegis radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors in response to North Korea’s threats and actions, according to its government. (Issei Kato/Reuters)
- People take part in an oath-taking meeting before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on Mansudae Hill in Pyongyang April 10, 2013 in this photo distributed by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Sign reads: “Let’s become faithful youth vanguard of our party!” (KCNA via Reuters)
- Reporters question a South Korean employee (C) as he returns from the KIC (Kaesong industrial complex) with products made in the KIC, at the South’s CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine), just south of the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, north of Seoul April 10, 2013. South Korea said on Wednesday it has asked China, North Korea’s only major ally, to rein in the hermit state and has raised its surveillance after the North moved at least one long-range missile in readiness for a possible launch. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)
- North Korea soldiers lean in a boat on Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, April 10, 2013. Chinese authorities in the northeastern city of Dandong have told tour agencies to halt overland tourism into North Korea, local travel agents said on Wednesday, as Pyongyang whips up war rhetoric following weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula. (Jacky Chen/Reuters)
- North Korea soldiers stand on the bank of Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, April 10, 2013. Chinese authorities in the northeastern city of Dandong have told tour agencies to halt overland tourism into North Korea, local travel agents said on Wednesday, as Pyongyang whips up war rhetoric following weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula. (Jacky Chen/Reuters)
- South Korean soldiers sit in a truck at a military check point on April 9, 2013 in Paju, South Korea. North Korea announced it will withdraw all workers from Kaesong joint industrial complex, five days after unilaterally banning South Korean workers re-entry to Kaesong. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
- South Korean soldiers stand at a check point on April 9, 2013 in Paju, South Korea. North Korea announced it will withdraw all workers from Kaesong joint industrial complex, five days after unilaterally banning South Korean workers re-entry to Kaesong. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
- A South Korean soldier stands on a military guard post near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas in the border city of Paju on April 5, 2013. The United States said it was taking “all necessary precautions” after North Korea rang fresh alarms in an escalating crisis by moving a medium-range missile to its east coast. (Jung Yeon-Jejung/AFP/Getty Images)
- A South Korean soldier sets up a barricade on the road connecting South and North Korea at the Unification Bridge on April 9, 2013 in Paju, South Korea. North Korea announced it will withdraw all workers from Kaesong joint industrial complex, five days after unilaterally banning South Korean workers re-entry to Kaesong. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
- A South Korean soldier stands at a check point on April 9, 2013 in Paju, South Korea. North Korea announced it will withdraw all workers from Kaesong joint industrial complex, five days after unilaterally banning South Korean workers re-entry to Kaesong. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
- A North Korean military dog bites a dummy of South Korean Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin during a military drill in an unknown location in this picture taken on April 6, 2013 and released by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang on April 7, 2013. (KCNA via Reuters)
- North Korean soldiers take part in a shooting drill in an unknown location in this picture taken on April 6, 2013 and released by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang on April 7, 2013. (KCNA via Reuters)
- North Korean soldiers with military dogs take part in drills in an unknown location in this picture taken on April 6, 2013 and released by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang on April 7, 2013. (KCNA via Reuters)
- A couple kisses as it rains at an observation post on the Imjingak pavillion near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul April 6, 2013. North Korea warns it could not guarantee the safety of diplomats after next Wednesday and has asked embassies to consider moving staff out of the country, European diplomats said, amid high tension on the Korean peninsula. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)
- A barbed wire fence at the military check point, near the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) separates South and North Korea on April 4, 2013 in Paju, South Korea. 400 South Koreans remain in the joint industrial complex fearing they can not get back there once return to South. In recent weeks North Korea have threatened to attack South Korea and U.S. military bases. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
- A general view of empty road connection Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) with South’s CIQ (Customs, Immigration, Quarantine) at inter-Korean transit office in Paju on April 4, 2013 in Paju, South Korea. 400 South Koreans remain in the joint industrial complex fearing they can not get back there once return to South. In recent weeks North Korea have threatened to attack South Korea and U.S. military bases. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
- South Korean soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence, near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul April 5, 2013. North Korea’s explicit threats this week to strike the United States with nuclear weapons are rhetorical bluster, as the isolated nation does not yet have the means to make good on them, Western officials and security experts say. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)
- South Korean soldiers (front) keep watch at a North Korean soldier at the truce village of Panmunjom, in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul April 4, 2013 in this picture provided by Yonhap. Russia said on Thursday that North Korea’s disregard for U.N. restrictions was unacceptable and that its decision to pursue a nuclear program radically limited the chances of resuming stalled six-party nuclear talks. (Lee Jung-hoon/Yonhap via Reuters)
- A North Korean soldier (L) and a South Korean soldier keep watch at the truce village of Panmunjom, in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul April 4, 2013 in this picture provided by Yonhap. Russia said on Thursday that North Korea’s disregard for U.N. restrictions was unacceptable and that its decision to pursue a nuclear program radically limited the chances of resuming stalled six-party nuclear talks. (Lee Jung-hoon/Yonhap via Reuters)
- A North Korean soldier watches the South Korean side at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul April 4, 2013. (Lee Jung-hoon/Yonhap via Reuters)
- North Korean soldiers patrol along the bank of the Yalu River in the North Korean town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese city of Dandong on April 4, 2013. North Korea appears to have moved a medium range missile to its east coast, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin said, prompting fears of a strike against South Korea or Japan. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)
- A North Korean soldier on patrol passes by a group of dock workers along the bank of the Yalu River in the North Korean town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese city of Dandong on April 4, 2013. North Korea appears to have moved a medium range missile to its east coast, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin said, prompting fears of a strike against South Korea or Japan. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)
- A soldier of a South Korean artillery unit looks at his fellow soldiers and military vehicles moving to conduct military training near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul April 4, 2013. South Korea is to buy Taurus bunker-busting air-to-ground long range missiles for its F-15K strike fighters in a move to boost its strike power amid rising tensions with North Korea, its defense minister told a parliamentary committee on Thursday. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)
- A South Korean soldier stands on a road linked to North Korea at a military check point in Paju near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas on April 3, 2013. North Korea on April 3 delayed the entry of South Koreans to a joint industrial complex in a rare move amid high tensions on the Korean peninsula, the South’s Unification Ministry said. (Jung Yeon-Jejung/AFP/Getty Images)
- A US Air Force F-22 stealth fighter jet takes off from the Osan US Air Base in Pyeongtaek on April 3, 2013. North Korea blocked access to a key joint industrial zone with South Korea on April 3 — a sharp escalation in a military crisis that Washington blamed on Pyongyang’s “reckless” behavior. (Yonhap via AFP/Getty Images)
- North Koreans attend a rally against the U.S. and South Korea in Nampo, North Korea, April 3, 2013, in this picture released by the North’s official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang on Wednesday. The Korean characters on the sign read, “Safeguard to the death.” (KCNA via Reuters)
- An A-10 jet (top) belonging to the U.S. Air Force comes in for a landing at a U.S. air force base in Osan, south of Seoul April 3, 2013. The U.S. has positioned a warship off the Korean coast as a shield against ballistic missile attack, and also deployed radar-evading F-22 Raptors on Sunday to take part in the annual joint military drills it carries out with South Korea. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)
- Soldiers of the U.S. Army 23rd chemical battalion put on their gear as they give a demonstration of their equipment during a ceremony to give notice of the battalion’s official return to the 2nd Infantry Division based in South Korea, at Camp Stanley in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul April 4, 2013. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)
- The Army 23rd chemical battalion left South Korea in 2004 but the battalion with about 250 soldiers returned to the South in January 2013 to support South Korean military and the U.S. troops based in the South, according to the infantry division. Photo taken at Camp Stanley in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul on April 4, 2013. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)
- North Koreans attend a rally held to gather their willingness for a victory in a possible war against the United States and South Korea in Nampo, North Korea, April 3, 2013. (KCNA via Reuters)
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) and Yun Byung-Se, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea speak to the media at the State Department, April 2, 2013 in Washington, DC. Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Byung-Se spoke after a bi-lateral meeting about growing tensions with North Korea. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
- A cooling tower is demolished at a North Korean nuclear plant in Yongbyon in this June 27, 2008 file photo. North Korea is to restart the mothballed Yongbyon nuclear reactor that has been closed since 2007 in a move that could produce more plutonium for nuclear weapons as well as for domestic electricity production, its KCNA news agency said on April 2, 2013. As well as restarting the 5MW reactor at Yongbyon, the North’s only known source of plutonium for its nuclear weapons programme, KCNA said a uranium enrichment plant would also be put back into operation, a move that could give it a second path to the bomb. Kyodo file photo via Reuters)
- A South Korean K-1 tank moves over a temporary bridge during a river-crossing military drill in Hwacheon near the border with North Korea on April 1, 2013. South Korea’s new president promised a strong military response to any North Korean provocation after Pyongyang announced that the two countries were now in a state of war. (Kim Jae-Hawn/AFP/Getty Images)
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) participates in the 7th session of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang April 1, 2013. (KCNA via Reuters)
- South Korean marines man K-55 self-propelled howitzers at a military training field in the border city of Paju on on April 1, 2013. South Korea’s new president on April 1 promised a strong military response to any North Korean provocation after Pyongyang announced that the two countries were now in a state of war. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images)
- South Korean soldiers participate in military drills near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Cheorwon, 48 miles northeast of Seoul April 1, 2013. South Korea will strike back quickly if the North stages any attack, the new president in Seoul warned on Monday, as tensions ratcheted higher on the Korean peninsula amid shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang and the U.S. deployment of radar-evading fighter planes. (Lee Hae-ryong/Yonhap via Reuters)
- A North Korean soldier stands watch by the Yalu River in the North Korean town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese city of Dandong on March 31, 2013. (PHOTOSTR/AFP/Getty Images)
- A North Korean boat makes its way along the Yalu River by the North Korean town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese city of Dandong on March 31, 2013. (PHOTOSTR/AFP/Getty Images)
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang March 31, 2013 in this picture released by the North’s official KCNA news agency on April 1, 2013. (KCNA via Reuters)
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (4th R, front row) attends a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang March 31, 2013 in this picture released by the North’s official KCNA news agency on April 1, 2013. (KCNA via Reuters)
- A soldier stands guard at a sentry post, at the banks of Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, March 30, 2013. China called for an easing of tensions on Friday as North Korea put its missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula. (Jacky Chen/Reuters)
- A photo provided by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, on March 29, 2013, signing an order putting rockets on standby after an urgent meeting with top generals. (KCNA/Xinhua/Zuma Press/MCT)
- A soldier stands guard near a barbed wire fence on Hwanggumpyong Island located in the middle of the Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju and the Chinese border city of Dandong, March 29, 2013. (Jacky Chen/Reuters)
South Korea increases surveillance as North moves missiles
Daum Kim and Phil Stewart
Reuters
10:09 a.m. EDT, April 10, 2013
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – South Korea said on Wednesday there was “very high” probability that North Korea, engaged in weeks of threats of war, would launch a medium-range missile at any time as a show of strength despite diplomatic efforts to soften its position.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said South Korea had asked China and Russia to intercede with the North to ease tension that has mounted since the U.N. Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea after its third nuclear arms test in February.
But all was calm in the South Korean capital, Seoul, long used to North Korean invective under its 30-year-old leader Kim Jong-un. Offices worked normally and customers crowded into city-center cafes.
Seoul stocks edged up 0.77 percent from a four-and-a-half-month low hit earlier in the week, though trading was light with threats from the North still clouding the picture. The won currency gained 0.3 percent.
Other officials in Seoul said surveillance of North Korean activity had been enhanced. Missile transporters had been spotted in South Hamgyong province along North Korea’s east coast – a possible site for a launch.
North Korea observes several anniversaries in the next few days and they could be pretexts for displays of military strength. These include the first anniversary of Kim’s formal ascent to power, the 20th anniversary of rule by his father, Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011, and the anniversary, next Monday, of the birth of the young Kim’s grandfather, state founder Kim Il-Sung.
The near-daily threats to South Korea and the United States of recent weeks were muted in the North’s state media on Wednesday, with the focus largely on the upcoming festivities.
State television showed mass gatherings, including women in traditional flowing robes, listening to addresses, laying flowers at monuments and taking part in a culinary competition.
The North’s KCNA news agency said people were “doing their best to decorate cities”. Another dispatch reported a “production upsurge” in the coal, steel, iron and timber industries, with figures showing a quarterly plan set by authorities had been “overfulfilled”.
In Washington, Admiral Samuel Locklear, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific region, said the U.S. military believed North Korea had moved an unspecified number of Musudan missiles to its east coast.
The trajectory of the missile, if launched, is unclear as the North has failed to inform international bodies – as it did in previous instances – of the path it is expected to take. But it is unlikely to be aimed directly at the South.
The Musudan has a range of 3,500 km (2,100 miles) or more, according to South Korea, which would put Japan within range and may even threaten Guam, home to U.S. bases. South Korea can be reached by the North’s short-range Scud missiles.
LAUNCH POSSIBLE “AT ANY TIME”
Foreign Minister Yun told a parliamentary hearing: “According to intelligence obtained by our side and the U.S., the possibility of a missile launch by North Korea is very high.”
North Korea, he said, could launch a Musudan missile “at any time from now”.
The U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command in Seoul raised its “Watchcon 3” status, a normal condition, by one level to boost monitoring and increase the number of intelligence staff, a senior military official told the South’s Yonhap news agency.
Yonhap also reported that South Korea, which has not joined a U.S.-led global missile defense system, was planning to develop a system of its own. It quoted an unidentified senior military official as saying this would involve early warning radars, ship-to-air and land-based systems, to be used in conjunction with U.S. early warning satellites.
Yun said he was coordinating with China and Russia “to make efforts to persuade North Korea to change its attitude”.
China is North Korea’s sole major ally, although its influence over Pyongyang is open to question and Beijing has, in any event, endorsed the new sanctions. Moscow backed North Korea in Soviet times, though its influence has waned.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman issued a fresh appeal for restraint and said nothing about any possible effort to bring about a change in the North’s policy.
Patricia Lewis, research director at the London-based Chatham House think-tank, said that strictly on the basis of the North’s vast conventional forces, caution was required.
“The conventional military capabilities of North Korea are all too real and all too close to Seoul,” she wrote in a paper. “Any incursion could escalate involving the U.S. and Japan, China, perhaps Russia and others.”
The North has tested short-range Scud missiles. The longer-range Musudan and Nodong missiles are an unknown quantity.
“If the missile was in defense of the homeland, I would certainly recommend that action (of intercepting it). And if it was defense of our allies, I would recommend that action,” Locklear told a Senate hearing in Washington.
Pyongyang has threatened a nuclear strike on the United States – something it does not have the capacity to carry out – and “war” with “puppet” South Korea – threats that appear to be aimed at least in part at boosting internal support for Kim.
WEEKS OF EXERCISES
The North is also angry about weeks of joint South Korean-U.S. military exercises. About 28,000 U.S. forces are permanently based in South Korea.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Seoul this week.
On Tuesday, the North told foreigners in South Korea to leave to avoid being dragged into a “thermonuclear war”. It previously warned diplomats in Pyongyang to prepare to leave.
The North closed a money-spinning industrial park it operates with South Korean companies this week, putting at risk a venture that is one of its few sources of hard cash.
Officials said 292 South Koreans remained in the complex just inside the North Korean border, apparently waiting for clarification over Pyongyang’s plans.
In China’s northeast region of Dandong, tour operators said they had been told by authorities to halt overland tourism to North Korea and some tourists were turned away. Other tours, including those involving air travel, were operating as usual.
(Additional reporting by Christine Kim and by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Max Duncan in Dandong; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Robert Birsel)
manjunath.n
Apr 10, 2013 @ 10:28:18
The leaders of both countries must meet themselves and take good decision. by doing this no one can be harm. understand their citizens faith. war must not personal it is not essential to any country, by doing this no one will remains in earth. the leader must be bring good faith with other countries. he must plan to get faith without any harming to others. north korean leader must think himself which is bad and good. all the very best good leaders for making good country.