Showing posts with label South Korea. Show all posts

Friday, June 21, 2013

Kim Jong-un Uses Mein Kampf as a Leadership Guide

North Korea threatens to kill authors of report claiming Kim Jong-un handed out copies of Hitler's Mein Kampf

North Korea has threatened to kill the authors of a report claiming Kim Jong-un used Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf as a leadership guide.

The article by New Focus International, an online news portal run by North Korean defectors, said Mr Kim gave copies of the German Nazi dictator's manifesto to his top officials.

The report, sourced to an unnamed North Korean official working in China, said the translated copies were handed out at the time of Mr Kim's birthday in January.

"Mentioning that Hitler managed to rebuild Germany in a short time following its defeat in World War I, Kim Jong-un issued an order for the Third Reich to be studied in depth and asked that practical applications be drawn from it," the source was quoted as saying.

Mr Kim also stressed that sports had played a key role in cementing unity and spreading Nazi ideology in Germany, and called for policies to encourage sporting activities among North Koreans, the source said.

The report was picked up by all major South Korean newspapers on Wednesday.

But the North's police agency later called the report a "thrice-cursed crime" aimed at belittling its leader, and threatened to kill the "human scum" behind the article.

"We are... determined to take substantial measures to physically remove despicable human scum who are committing treasons," it said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

"Sordid human scum will never be able to look up to the sky nor be able to find an inch of land to be buried after their death."

It also vowed to launch "merciless punishment of justice" against Seoul and Washington, accusing the two nations of encouraging the defectors to defame its ruler.

PHOTO: Mein Kampf was written in 1924 while Adolf Hitler was languishing in a Bavarian prison (AFP: Carl De Souza)

Mein Kampf, which translates to English as My Struggle, was written in 1924 while Hitler was being held in a Bavarian prison before becoming a German leader.

It is both a vicious anti-Semitic tract and rambling memoir.

The Kim family dynasty has ruled North Korea with an iron fist for more than six decades.

Mr Kim took over the isolated communist state after the death of his father Kim Jong-il, in December 2011.

SOURCE: ABC

North Korea condemns Hitler Mein Kampf report

File photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (centre) inspects the Songchongang net-weaving factory in South Hamgyong province, North Korea.

The report said Kim Jong-un believed North Korea should draw lessons from the Third Reich

North Korea has condemned a report that its leader, Kim Jong-un, gave out copies of Adolf Hitler's memoir Mein Kampf to officials on his birthday.

The report, from a news website run by North Korean defectors, said that senior officials were given the book as a gift in January.

North Korea has denounced the defectors as "human scum" and threatened to kill them.

Nazi leader Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf in 1924 while in prison.

The book, which translates in English as My Struggle, outlines his early life and racist views.

News portal New Focus International wrote the original report, citing an unnamed North Korean official in China.

"Mentioning that Hitler managed to rebuild Germany in a short time following its defeat in WWI, Kim Jong-un issued an order for the Third Reich to be studied in depth and asked that practical applications be drawn from it," the source reportedly said.

North Korea's Ministry of People's Security, which is responsible for policing, issued an angry response which was carried by the country's official news agency, KCNA.

It dismissed the report as a "smear campaign" written by "a handful of human scum... moving desperately to deter [North Korea's] progress".

The defectors were being used by South Korea and the US, it went on.

The ministry was determined to "physically remove [the] despicable human scum who are committing treason", the statement added.

The two Koreas remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean war ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Ties between the two are currently very tense in the wake of Pyongyang's 12 February nuclear test.

read more at BBC

North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un urges top officials to read Hitler’s Mein Kampf

By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 0:07 EDT

This photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visiting a machine plant in North Phyongan Province (AFP)

North Korean ruler Kim Jong-Un has reportedly given copies of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” to his top officials, urging them to study it as a leadership skills manual.

Kim handed out translations of the German dictator’s manifesto to select officials at the time of his birthday in January, reported New Focus International, an online news portal run by North Korean defectors.

The report, sourced to an unnamed North Korean official working in China, was picked up by all major South Korean newspapers on Wednesday.

“Mentioning that Hitler managed to rebuild Germany in a short time following its defeat in World War I, Kim Jong-Un issued an order for the Third Reich to be studied in depth and asked that practical applications be drawn from it,” the source was quoted as saying.

Kim also stressed that sports had played a key role in cementing unity and spreading Nazi ideology in Germany, and called for policies to encourage sporting activities among North Koreans, the source said.

“Mein Kampf” (“My Struggle”), written in 1924 while Hitler was languishing in a Bavarian prison before becoming a German leader, is both a vicious anti-Semitic tract and rambling memoir.

A North Korean businessman told New Focus International of persistent rumours within the Pyongyang elite that Kim had made a close study of Hitler during his time at an international school in Switzerland.

The Kim family dynasty has ruled North Korea with an iron fist for more than six decades.

Kim Jong-Un took over the isolated communist state after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il, in December 2011.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Is North Korea a Serious Threat or is This Just More Saber-Rattling?

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, attends the army's 81st anniversary ceremony at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Thursday. The state TV station released footage of Kim watching the military parade, and of young couples taking part in mass dances in the capital

South Korea issues Kaesong ultimatum

Government in Seoul warns of 'grave measures' if North Korea does not agree to reopen joint manufacturing zone

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 25 April 2013

A North Korean traffic policeman stands at an intersection in Kaesong where a joint manufacturing zone is run in conjunction with the South. Photograph: David Guttenfelder/AP

South Korea has warned North Korea that it faces unspecified "grave measures" unless it agrees to urgent talks on reopening the Kaesong industrial complex, a jointly run project that brings much-needed income to the North but has remained closed for almost a month.

The South's unification ministry did not give details of possible punitive measures but observers believe it could mean the complete withdrawal of the 175 South Korean managers still living near the plant.

Their withdrawal would effectively bring an end to the only remaining symbol of cross-border cooperation and mark a dramatic decline in ties already damaged by weeks of North Korean threats against the South and its allies.

U.S. Ready for North Korea Conflict: Dempsey

Apr. 25, 2013 - 10:35AM

TOKYO — The United States’ top military officer said Thursday that his troops were ready to act if North Korea turned its increasingly bellicose rhetoric into action.

“We are seeking to deter North Korea from provocation,” Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told soldiers at the Yokota Air Base, about an hour's drive west of the Japanese capital.

“I can assure you that we are postured with our Japanese allies in order to protect our citizens, their citizens, our facilities, their facilities.”

Dempsey's remarks follow a visit to South Korea and China, North Korea's chief ally, as regional tensions rise over fears about Pyonyang's recent threats to attack its southern neighbour and wage nuclear war on the United States.

The Korean peninsula was already engulfed in a cycle of escalating tensions — triggered by the North's nuclear test in February — when Pyongyang decided on April 3 to block all South Korean access to the Kaesong industrial zone, a rare joint project between the two countries.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Kim Il-Sung Was Declared North Korea's Eternal President. World On Edge With Nuclear Threat.

"The government follows the Juche ideology of self-reliance, initiated by the country's first President, Kim Il-sung. After his death, Kim Il-sung was declared the country's Eternal President. Juche became the official state ideology, replacing Marxism–Leninism, when the country adopted a new constitution in 1972...

...North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il adopted Songun, or "military-first" policy in order to strengthen the country and its government.^[18] North Korea is the world's most militarized country, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the 4th largest in the world, after China, the U.S., and India." -- Wikipedia (highlight added)

World on edge as nuclear North Korea celebrates long-dead leader’s birthday

By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, April 14, 2013 21:31 EDT

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at a Workers' Party of Korea meeting in Pyongyang, March 31, 2013 (KCNA via KNS_AFP_File)

Topics: north korea

AFP - All eyes are on North Korea on Monday to see if it marks the birthday of late founder Kim Il-Sung with an expected missile launch, despite tension-reducing noises from Seoul and Washington.

North Korea has a habit of linking high-profile military tests with key dates in its annual calendar. The centenary of Kim’s birth last year was preceded by a long-range rocket test that ended in failure.

South Korean intelligence says the North has had two medium-range missiles primed and ready to fire for nearly a week, with many observers tapping Monday’s anniversary as a likely launch date.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, currently in Japan on the last leg of a whirlwind Northeast Asia tour, warned North Korea when he was in Seoul on Friday that a launch in the current climate would be a “huge mistake”.

The Korean peninsula has been in a state of heightened military tension since the North carried out its third nuclear test in February.

Incensed by fresh UN sanctions and joint South Korea-US military exercises, Pyongyang has spent weeks issuing blistering threats of missile strikes and nuclear war.

During his visits in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, Kerry talked tough on the North’s “unacceptable” rhetoric, but also sought to lower the temperature slightly by supporting a dialogue with Pyongyang and saying he would be prepared to reach out to North Korea.

He also urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to lead his country back to negotiations.

“We’re prepared to reach out, but we need the appropriate moment, appropriate circumstances,” Kerry said Sunday.

Kerry: North Korea must stop 'bucking history and common sense'

y Melissa Gray, CNN

updated 10:17 PM EDT, Sun April 14, 2013

(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that North Korea must stop "bucking the trend of history and common sense" in continuing with its nuclear program and that any unilateral action by the North "carries too great a cost" for the world to allow it.

Kerry spoke at the end of a three-day trip that focused on securing fresh commitments from South Korea, China and Japan for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and getting Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.

"The United States remains open to authentic and credible negotiations on denuclearization, but the burden is on Pyongyang," Kerry said in Tokyo. "Korea must take meaningful steps to show it will honor commitments it has already made" and the norms of international law.

Last month, North Korea scrapped the 1953 truce that effectively ended the Korean war and said it was nullifying the joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

It also recently pledged to restart its Yongbyon nuclear complex, including a uranium enrichment plant and a reactor that was shut down under an agreement reached in October 2007 during talks with North Korea, the United States, and four other countries.

"The world does not need more potential for war, so we will stand together. And we welcome China's strong commitment ... to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Kerry said.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Japan Readying Patriot Missiles to Defend Against North Korea's Suspected Upcoming Nuclear Missile Test

Japan Deploys Patriot Missiles to Defend Tokyo from North Korean Threats

Military moves three PAC-3 batteries in defensive ring around central Tokyo - and more are likely to follow

By VASUDEVAN SRIDHARAN:

April 9, 2013 7:21 AM GMT

Members of the Japan Self-Defence Forces deploy PAC-3 missiles at the defence ministry in Tokyo. - Reuters

Japan has deployed Patriot missiles in and around central Tokyo as a defensive measure should North Korea decide to launch an attack amid rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

Tokyo has moved three Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile launchers, according to the defence ministry. Two more batteries are likely to be stationed at other places.

The units are meant to defend the headquarters of the defence ministry and key military installations in the capital as well as the 30 million people who live in greater Tokyo.

"We are proceeding with measures including deployment of PAC-3 as we are on alert," said Tokyo's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera.

He said another unit would be stationed in Okinawa prefecture as "the place that is most effective in responding to emergencies".

Although Japan has poured scorn on North Korea's threats thus far, the latest move is evidence that it could be preparing for the worst.

Tokyo had already deployed Aegis class destroyers equipped with missile interceptors in the Sea of Japan to counter the North Korean threats, and authorised its forces to shoot down any missile emanating from North Korea.

"The government is making utmost efforts to protect our people's lives and ensure their safety. As North Korea keeps making provocative comments, Japan, cooperating with relevant countries, will do what we have to do. For the moment, the most important thing is to implement sanctions under the UN Security Council resolutions," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.

Further details about the deployment have been withheld by the authorities because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

"We'd like to refrain from explaining further because it would give away details of the cards we hold. At any rate, we have taken thorough measures to ensure the safety of the people," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

The announcement from Tokyo, Washington's close ally in the region, has come after Seoul-based reports suggested that North Korea has moved two medium-range missiles off its eastern coast.

While former North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung's birthday falls on 15 April, experts believe Pyongyang's current leadership may resort to provocative actions coinciding with the occasion to boost its own reputation domestically.

North Korea suspected of preparing for nuclear test

South Korean government says there are signs the regime is getting ready for what would be its fourth nuclear weapon test

Justin McCurry in Seoul
guardian.co.uk,
Monday 8 April 2013 03.33 EDT

North Korea could be preparing to conduct a fourth nuclear test, following signs of activity at the country's main testing site, South Korea's unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, said on Monday.

Ryoo told a meeting with MPs at the national assembly that Seoul had acquired evidence of increased movement of vehicles and personnel at Punggye-ri, the Yonhap news agency said.

The site on North Korea's north-east coast is where the country's three previous controlled nuclear detonations – in 2006, 2009 and on 12 February this year – took place.

Ryoo's comments came after a South Korean newspaper quoted an unnamed government source as saying that workers appeared to be preparing for another test at Punggye-ri.

The JoongAng Ilbo quoted the source as saying that South Korean intelligence had detected "increased activity of labour forces and vehicles" at the site.

"We are closely monitoring the ongoing situation, which is very similar to the situation ahead of the third nuclear test. We are trying to figure out whether it is a genuine preparation for a nuclear test or just a ploy to heap more pressure on us and the US," it said.

The prospect of a nuclear test is certain to add to tensions on the peninsula amid reports that the regime in Pyongyang could be planning to launch a medium-range missile from its east coat, possibly as early as Wednesday.

Any missile launch is expected to be a test rather than a targeted strike and could take place in the runup to the 101st anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung, on 15 April. Another significant date is the anniversary of the foundation of the Korean people's army 10 days later.

Last week, North Korea warned foreign embassies in Pyongyang it could not guarantee their safety from the threat of conflict after Wednesday this week and advised them to consider pulling their staff out of the capital.
read more at Guardian

Sunday, April 7, 2013

North Korea In Preparation For "Missile Test". China Concerned About Escalation.

North Korea may be preparing to test missile, South Korea says

Published April 07, 2013

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea – A top South Korean national security official said Sunday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act with its warning that it soon will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in Pyongyang. But he added that the North's clearest objective is to extract concessions from Washington and Seoul.

North Korea's warning last week followed weeks of war threats and other efforts to punish South Korea and the U.S. for ongoing joint military drills, and for their support of U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's Feb. 12 nuclear test. Many nations are deciding what to do about the notice, which said their diplomats' safety in Pyongyang cannot be guaranteed beginning this Wednesday.

Tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang led South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff to announce Sunday that its chairman had put off a visit to Washington. The U.S. military said its top commander in South Korea had also canceled a trip to Washington. The South Korean defense minister said Thursday that North Korea had moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, possibly to conduct a test launch.

His description suggests that the missile could be the Musudan missile, capable of striking American bases in Guam with its estimated range of up to 4,000 kilometers (2,490 miles).

Citing North Korea's suggestion that diplomats leave the country, South Korean President Park Geun-hye's national security director said Pyongyang may be planning a missile launch or another provocation around Wednesday, according to presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing.

During a meeting with other South Korean officials, the official, Kim Jang-Soo, also said the notice to diplomats and other recent North Korean actions are an attempt to stoke security concerns and to force South Korea and the U.S. to offer a dialogue. Washington and Seoul want North Korea to resume the six-party nuclear talks -- which also include China, Russia and Japan -- that it abandoned in 2009.

The roughly two dozen countries with embassies in North Korea had not yet announced whether they would evacuate their staffs.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague suggested that North Korea's comments about foreign diplomats are "consistent" with a regime that is using the prospect of an external threat to justify its militarization to its people.

"I haven't seen any immediate need to respond to that by moving our diplomats out of there," he told the BBC on Saturday. "We will keep this under close review with our allies, but we shouldn't respond and play to that rhetoric and that presentation of an external threat every time they come out with it."

Germany said its embassy in Pyongyang would stay open for at least the time being.

"The situation there is tense but calm," a German Foreign Office official, who declined to be named in line with department policy, said in an email. "The security and danger of the situation is constantly being evaluated. The different international embassies there are in close touch with each other."

Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry said it was considering a plan to evacuate its diplomats. A statement released by the ministry on Saturday said that its embassy in Pyongyang has been preparing a contingency plan to anticipate the worst-case scenario, and that the Indonesian foreign minister is communicating with the staff there to monitor the situation.

India also said it was monitoring events. "We have been informed about it," said Syed Akbaruddin, spokesman for India's external affairs ministry. "We are in constant touch with our embassy and are monitoring the situation. We will carefully consider all aspects and decide well in time."

Seoul and Washington, which lack diplomatic relations with the North, are taking the threats seriously, though they say they have seen no signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a large-scale attack.

Kim Jang-soo said the North would face "severalfold damages" for any hostilities. Since 2010, when attacks Seoul blames on North Korea killed 50 people, South Korea has vowed to aggressively respond to any future attack.

South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Jung Seung-jo had planned to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Martin Dempsey, in Washington on April 16 for regular talks. But tensions on the Korean Peninsula are so high that Jung cannot take a long trip away from South Korea, so the meeting will be rescheduled, a South Korean Joint Chiefs officer said Sunday. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity, citing office policy.

The top U.S. military commander in South Korea, Gen. James Thurman, will not make a planned trip to Washington this week to testify before Congress because of tensions with North Korea. In an email Sunday to The Associated Press, Army Col. Amy Hannah said Thurman would remain in Seoul as "a prudent measure." He was scheduled to testify on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The U.S. Defense Department has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test that had been planned for this week because of concerns the launch could be misinterpreted and exacerbate the Korean crisis, a senior defense official told The Associated Press.

Unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile leaves a contrail the sky

US seeks to ease tensions with North Korea by postponing missile test

Test launch of a Minuteman 3 intercontinental missile next week delayed until next month to avoid exacerbating crisis

North Korea: experts call for dialogue – and say China must play a part

Washington postpones planned missile test as Switzerland offers to act as mediator with Pyongyang

Justin McCurry in the Korean DMZ
The Guardian, Sunday 7 April 2013 14.57 EDT

South Korean tourists look towards the North

South Korean tourists look towards North Korea from the border city of Paju at the weekend. Photograph: Yonhap/AFP

This 2.5-mile-wide strip of land is all that stands between about 1 million heavily armed troops ranged either side of the border between North and South Korea.

The atmosphere inside the demilitarised zone (DMZ), established after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire, mirrors the current state of cross-border relations: prolonged tension, occasional flare-ups, and a return to the status quo.

That precarious arrangement has prevented the two Koreas from going to war again, but it has failed to bring a real and lasting peace, say experts who believe the time has come for the US and its allies to consider a new approach to North Korea unthinkable just a week ago: dialogue.

On Sunday, Washington postponed a planned intercontinental missile test, giving encouragement to observers who have urged a more moderate tone in recent days. The initial high-octane response – which included flying B2 bombers over the peninsula– has only made a bad situation worse, so the current thinking goes.

"There has been a ratcheting down of deterrence gestures by the US, and that has helped cool the situation a little," said John Delury, a North Korea analyst at Yonsei University in Seoul.

Delury believes more aggressive diplomatic gestures could help ease the situation further, but only if the political will exists to begin even limited engagement with the regime. "This whole crisis has shown us how little we really know about Kim Jong-un, and we're not going to learn any more unless we talk," he said. "And talking isn't the same as backing down."

At the weekend, the South Korean media reported calls from both sides of the political divide in Seoul for the administration to send an envoy to Pyongyang to lay the foundation for talks.

A key new appointment in Pyongyang may have given the South an ideal negotiating partner: Pak Pong-ju, an economic reformer and pragmatist who became the North's premier last week. "He is someone everyone can work with, including China," said Delury.

There are clear signs that China's approach to its unpredictable ally is changing. It quickly signed up to UN sanctions after the North conducted its third nuclear test in February. Last week it voiced serious concern over the sudden escalation in rhetoric and urged calm on all sides.

Friday, April 5, 2013

North Korea Gives Deadline Date of April 10th Leaving that as Possible Attack Date, Afraid of Possible Coup.

North Korea tells Brit diplomats to get out — then sets chilling April 10 deadline

Rocket ... North Korea parades its Musudan missiles through Pyongyang last year

By JACK LOSH

Published: 05th April 2013

ROGUE state North Korea today sparked fears that it could trigger a nuclear strike as early as next WEDNESDAY.

Crackpot Kim Jong-un’s regime today issued a chilling threat to British diplomats warning them to get out of Pyongyang.

Alarmingly the North Korean government said it would not be able to guarantee the safety of embassies from April 10.

Russian diplomats have also been advised to evacuate.

Today the Foreign Office added that it is “considering next steps” after the threat.

It is still unclear why next Wednesday has been set as a deadline – but it is sure to spark fears despot Kim Jong-un will launch an attack after that date.

This week South Korean workers employed in factories in the North were also told to leave by April 10.

The dramatic development came as North Korea moved a second missile to its east coast in a further threat to Japan, South Korea and US Pacific bases.

The rogue state has already transported a Musudan missile with a range of 1,800 miles (3,000km) to the same area.

Fears ... the compound housing the British, Swedish and German embassies

flickr

Today, a Foreign Office spokesman reportedly said: “We can confirm that the British Embassy in Pyongyang received a communication from the North Korean government this morning.

“It said that the North Korean government would be unable to guarantee the safety of embassies and international organisations in the country in the event of conflict from April 10.”

The Foreign Office today confirmed that it has “no immediate plans to withdraw our embassy” in Pyongyang and said it condemned the “provocation” by the North Korean government.

A spokesman went on: “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has responsibilities under the Vienna convention to protect diplomatic missions, and we believe they have taken this step as part of their continuing rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them.”

The Foreign office declined to disclose how many staff are working in Pyongyang, but said no decision had yet been taken on whether to pull out. "We are considering next steps," the spokesman added.

Troops ... South Korean female army reservists raise their hands to adopt a resolution against North Korea

Pledge ... South Korea is currently
engaged in joint military exercises with the US

Two rockets have been loaded onto mobile launchers and hidden in special underground facilities on North Korea's east coast , according to a government official.

The official added: “The North is apparently intent on firing the missiles without prior warning.”

The range of the second missile is unknown though it is believed to be an inter-continental ballistic KN-08 missile, which is untested by the regime.

It came as a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the North Korean border in far-eastern Russia.

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 1pm (GMT) was south-west of Vladivostok, around five miles from Russian border town Zarubino.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has pledged to tone down pronouncements about its military build-up after the crisis on the Korean peninsula threatens to spiral out of control.

In recent days, the US has flown two B-2 stealth bombers over South Korean and announced an expansion of missile defence systems in Alaska and Guam.

But rather than encouraging North Korea to back down, the US's military movements have prompted even greater threats and belligerent rhetoric from Pyongyang.

PYONGYANG move sees South Korea deploy two warships with missile-defence systems

Drills ... South Korean soldiers prepare
to fire a howitzer during a military exercise

On US official said: “Our actions thus far have had their intended effect: they've shown our deterrence capability and our willingness to defend South Korea.

“We always make adjustment and if going quiet for a short period of time gives the North Koreans space to dial back their rhetoric, fine.”

However, Washington still plans to forge ahead with joint military exercises with Seoul – including an amphibious assault drill – branded by the North as “rehearsal for invasion”.

The exercises codenamed Foal Eagle began on March 1 and will end on April 30.

Some US analysts expressed alarm over the intensity of the North’s threats. Centre for Strategic Studies senior adviser Victor Cha said: “The rhetoric is off the charts.”

But despite the North's threats to attack the US, David Cameron was today slammed for making the extraordinary claim yesterday that North Korea could strike Britain.

Young ... a South Korean soldier stands on a
military guard post near the demilitarised zone

Experts disputed his comments, saying North Korea does not have missiles that can reach Europe nor can mount nuclear warheads on them, sparking comparisons with the “sexed-up” dossier which Tony Blair used to justify the invasion of Iraq ten years ago.

North Korea: we can't keep you safe,

Pyongyang tells foreign embassies

North Korea has taken a further step to prepare for possible conflict, telling foreign embassies that their safety could not be guaranteed in the event of war.

By Malcolm Moore, Beijing, Julian Ryall in Tokyo and David Blair

6:13PM BST 05 Apr 2013

The significance of next Wednesday is unclear, although it has also been mentioned as a date for the possible closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a facility inside the North where South Korean companies employ 53,000 people.

The foreign ministry on Friday gave ambassadors in Pyongyang until Wednesday to say if they needed help with closing their missions and evacuating staff.

Britain responded by saying there was "no immediate" plan to shut its embassy in North Korea.

^{On Friday North Korea released a video of Kim Jong-Un firing a handgun}

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has sparked a regional crisis by testing a nuclear weapon and then revoking the armistice with South Korea and threatening immediate attack.

In response to tighter United Nations sanctions and annual US-South Korean military exercises, Mr Kim has gone so far as to "authorise" a nuclear strike on America.

Washington has responded by bolstering its defences around the Pacific Island base of Guam and sending nuclear-capable B2 bombers over the Korean Peninsula.

But a Foreign Office spokesman made clear that Britain had not decided to close its embassy. London established diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2001, opening an embassy in Pyongyang which concentrates on nuclear proliferation and human rights. Michael Gifford, the current British ambassador, remains in North Korea.

Britain had not interpreted the communication from North Korea as a recommendation to leave, said the Foreign Office. The regime was simply pointing out that it "would be unable to guarantee the safety of Embassies and international organisations" in the "event of conflict".

There were more signs of escalation on Friday. The North Korean foreign ministry declared the question was "not whether, but when a war would break out" owing to the "increasing threat from the United States", according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

North Korea is understood to have moved a second long range missile to its east coast, which has been the location for previous test launches. The weapons are believed to be "Musudans", an untested model with a possible range of 2,000 to 2,500 miles - theoretically enough to strike Japan and Guam.

South Korea countered by deploying two destroyers equipped with the Aegis missile defence system. One warship will patrol the country's east coast and the other will protect the west, tasked with shooting down any hostile North Korean missiles.

Aegis is a sophisticated system combining radars with projectiles capable of destroying a missile in-flight. At a minimum, the warships would be able to track any North Korean missile launches and establish whether they are harmless test firings - or acts of war. "If the North fires off a missile, we will trace its trajectory," an official told Yonhap, the South Korean news agency.

However, Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said that North Korea's behaviour followed a familiar pattern of provocation and was unlikely to lead to war. Any such conflict would pit North Korea against the US, guaranteeing Mr Kim's defeat.

^{A Cuban Army anti-aircraft battery during the 1962 missile crisis (Reuters)}

As tensions rise, Mr Kim has stepped up his personal security, perhaps in fear of a military coup, a Japanese newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, reported. In particular, about 100 armoured vehicles have been deployed close to Mr Kim's official residence in Pyongyang, said the paper, quoting diplomatic sources.

"The situation inside North Korea is very unstable and the military are making a lot of complaints to their political leaders," said Toshimitsu Shigemura, an expert on North Korea at Wasaeda University in Tokyo. "The military needs tension with South Korea and the US to justify themselves and Kim is terrified of a coup."

Issues On Call

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