US and S Korea raise military alert over North

THE US and South Korea put their military forces on high alert yesterday after North Korea renounced the truce keeping the peace between the two Koreas since 1953.

The North also accused the US of preparing to attack the isolated communist country in the wake of its second nuclear bomb test, and warned it would retaliate to any hostility with “merciless” and dangerous ferocity. Seoul moved a 3,500-tonne destroyer into waters near the Koreas’ disputed western maritime border while smaller, high-speed vessels were keeping guard at the front line, South Korean news reports said. The defence ministry said the US and South Korean militaries would increase surveillance activities.

Pyongyang, meanwhile, positioned artillery guns along the west coast on its side of the border, the Yonhap news agency said. The joint chiefs of staff in Seoul refused to confirm the reports.

The show of force along the heavily fortified border dividing the two Koreas comes three days after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test and fired a series of short-range missiles.

The test drew immediate condemnation from world leaders and the UN Security Council, where ambassadors were discussing a new resolution to punish Pyongyang. US president Barack Obama called it a “blatant violation” of international law.

In response, South Korea said it would join more than 90 nations that have agreed to stop and inspect vessels suspected of transporting weapons of mass destruction. North Korea called South Korea’s participation in the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative a prelude to a naval blockade and a violation of the truce signed to end the three-year war that broke out in Korea in 1950.

On Wednesday Pyongyang renounced the 1953 armistice and yesterday warned US forces against advancing into its territory. “The northward invasion scheme by the US and the South Korean puppet regime has exceeded the alarming level,” the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. “A minor accidental skirmish can lead to a nuclear war.”

The US, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea and another 50,000 in Japan, has denied it is planning military action. But US and South Korean troops were placed on their highest alert level for more than two years.

The South Korea-US combined forces command rates its surveillance alert on a scale to 5, with 1 being the highest level. Yesterday, the level was raised from 3 to 2, the second-highest level, a South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman said.