There is nothing like a good War to watch on TV.
North Korea restarts nuclear reactor and threatens to attack south.
Seoul’s participation in US-led ship searches ‘equal to declaration of war’
The North Korea nuclear crisis deepened today after the regime reportedly restarted its main nuclear reactor and threatened to attack South Korea if it joined US-led inspections of vessels suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction.
In its most belligerent broadside yet in the standoff, North Korea warned that it would view as a declaration of war any participation by Seoul in the naval exercise, known as the Proliferation Security Initiative.
The state-controlled Korean Central News Agency quoted a North Korean army spokesman as saying: “Any hostile act against our peaceful vessels including search and seizure will be considered an unpardonable infringement on our sovereignty and we will immediately respond with a powerful military strike.”
The statement added that the regime no longer considered itself bound by the armistice that ended the Korean war in 1953. The demarcation line separating north from south is among the most heavily fortified borders in the world.
The latest round of provocation comes amid reports that the north test-fired two more short-range missiles yesterday, bringing to five the number of rockets it has launched this week. A South Korean defence official said the north had fired two missiles on Monday, not three as reported in the media.
On Monday, North Korea enraged the US and irritated its allies China and Russia after conducting a nuclear weapons test, its second in three years.
While the world considered its response, North Korean military officials celebrated Monday’s test at a sports stadium in Pyongyang. The KNCA quoted Choe Thae-bok, a high ranking party official, as saying that the test was intended to protect the country against “the US imperialists’ unabated threat to mount a pre-emptive nuclear attack and [place] sanctions and pressure on it”.
There was more rhetoric from the North Korean party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, which said the country was “fully ready for battle” against the US and accused Barack Obama of “following in the footsteps of the previous Bush administration’s reckless policy of militarily stifling North Korea”.
