NKorea warns South against provoking warfare

Images (showing 1 of 3 photos)

North Korea warned South Korea against provoking war on Thursday as it reportedly deployed an arsenal of missiles near their sea border and told U.N. inspectors it plans to restart its nuclear facility.

The North's naval command accused the South of encroaching on its territory around the disputed sea border off Korea's west coast and threatened to take unspecified "decisive action" unless Seoul stops sending naval vessels into its waters.

The warning, delivered in a statement on the communist regime's official Korean Central News Agency, came hours after a South Korean newspaper reported that a U.S. spy satellite detected signs the North had positioned about 10 missiles on an island near the disputed sea border after test-firing two short-range missiles Tuesday. The Chosun Ilbo report cited an unidentified South Korean government official.

Later Thursday, North Korea told the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna that it was banning inspectors from its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon and stopping its program to dismantle the site, the agency said.

It was the clearest indication that the North plans to pull out of an international deal to end its nuclear program.

Last month, Pyongyang barred U.N. weapons personnel from a plutonium reprocessing facility at Yongbyon, as it took steps to restart its weapons-producing atomic program despite an international disarmament-for-aid pact.

The actions came at a time of increasing concern about security on the Korean peninsula.

The two Koreas remain technically at war since the Korean War, which began June 25, 1950 and ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea does not recognize a sea boundary unilaterally drawn by the U.N.

In its warning Thursday, North Korea said the maritime dispute was "so dangerous that a third West Sea skirmish and a second June 25 war may break out at any moment."

South Korea's Defense Ministry said the country has never violated the sea border.

North Korea reportedly fired two short-range missiles off the west coast Tuesday. South Korean intelligence officials believe the North is planning to fire more than five more missiles, the Chosun Ilbo report said.

South Korea's Defense Ministry, the National Intelligence Service and the U.S. military command in Seoul said they could not confirm the reports.

North Korea routinely test fires short-range missiles. It conducted an underground nuclear test two years ago and in 2006 fired seven missiles off the country's eastern coast.

In 2007, the North agreed to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for energy aid and other concessions. It abruptly stopped disabling the Yongbyon facility in August.

___

Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS DELETES incorrect reference to armistice on June 25. The war began on June 25, 1950. Trims.)

Back To Top

	North Korea preparing to restart atomic facility	Associated Press	Sat Oct 4	1
	NKorea may be developing small nuclear warhead	Associated Press	Wed Oct 8	0
	US intelligence: no signs of Korea leader crisis	Associated Press	Wed Oct 8	0