U.S. special representative on North Korea policy Glyn Davies, left, shakes hands with South Korea's nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. Davies met with North Korean nuclear negotiator this week in Beijing. (AP Photo/Kim Hong-ji, Pool)
U.S. special representative on North Korea policy Glyn Davies, left, shakes hands with South Korea's nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. Davies met with North Korean nuclear negotiator this week in Beijing. (AP Photo/Kim Hong-ji, Pool)
U.S. Special Representative for North Korean Affairs Glyn Davies, left, answers reporters' questions as South Korean nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam listens to him during a joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. Davies who just finished nuclear talks with North Korean officials said ties between the rival Koreas must improve before Pyongyang and Washington can have a "fundamental improvement" in their relationship. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
U.S. Special Representative for North Korean Affairs Glyn Davies listens to reporters' questions during a joint press conference with South Korean nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. Davies who just finished nuclear talks with North Korean officials said ties between the rival Koreas must improve before Pyongyang and Washington can have a "fundamental improvement" in their relationship. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
U.S. Special Representative for North Korean Affairs Glyn Davies answers reporters' question during a joint press conference with South Korean nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam, not in the photo, at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. Davies who just finished nuclear talks with North Korean officials said ties between the rival Koreas must improve before Pyongyang and Washington can have a "fundamental improvement" in their relationship. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korean nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam, right, and U.S. Special Representative for North Korean Affairs Glyn Davies attend a joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. Davies who just finished nuclear talks with North Korean officials said ties between the rival Koreas must improve before Pyongyang and Washington can have a "fundamental improvement" in their relationship. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to launch a powerful retaliatory strike against South Korea if provoked, state media said Sunday, a day before the start of annual South Korean-U.S. military drills that Pyongyang calls an invasion rehearsal.
South Korean and U.S. officials have said that the 12-day, largely computer-simulated war games set to start Monday are defensive in nature.
The report of the warning came a day after a senior U.S. envoy said ties between the rival Koreas must improve before the United States and North Korea can achieve real progress in their relationship.
Kim, the supreme commander of the North's 1.2 million-member military, issued the instruction to troops during a visit to front-line military units, including one that shelled a South Korean island in 2010, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
"He ordered them to make a powerful retaliatory strike at the enemy, should the enemy intrude even 0.001 millimeter into the waters of the country where its sovereignty is exercised," a KCNA dispatch said. It did not say when Kim visited the units.
North Korea has regularly issued such rhetoric against joint South Korean-U.S. military training.
KCNA said that fears of a war on the Korean peninsula have heightened due to the drills, which it called a "new war of aggression." North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission threatened Saturday to wage a "sacred war" over the drills.
Kim also visited the army battalion responsible for the 2010 shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island. KCNA said the unit is "well known to the world as it turned Yeonpyeong Island ... in flames," adding that Kim "highly appreciated the feats" by battalion members.
The artillery bombardment, which killed four South Koreans, raised fears of a bigger conflict on the Korean peninsula. North Korea says the attack was triggered by South Korea's firing of artillery into its territorial waters, while South Korea says the firing was only part of routine drills.
On Saturday, U.S. envoy Glyn Davies told reporters in Seoul that he made it clear to North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan in a meeting in Beijing last week that North Korea should improve its relations with South Korea before Pyongyang and Washington can better their relationship.
The talks aimed at resuming stalled international nuclear disarmament talks were the first since Kim's father and longtime leader Kim Jong Il died in December. Kim Jong Un has quickly taken over power by assuming a slew of prominent titles previously held by his father.
North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim met with China's chief nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, and Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun separately on Saturday to discuss the stalled six-nation nuclear talks, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Further details were not disclosed.
More than three years have passed since the last six-nation talks, which involve the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia.
___
Associated Press writer Sam Kim contributed to this report.
Associated Pressroddy white howard stern howard stern free shipping day free shipping day golden globe nominations 2012 war in iraq
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.