Tension Escalates in Korean Peninsula: North Threatens Action over US Anti-Missile System
Local Editor
In a new show of tension in the Korean Peninsula, the North threatened Monday to take "physical action" after Washington and Seoul announced they would deploy a sophisticated US anti-missile defense system.
Seoul and Washington on Friday revealed their decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense [THAAD] system in the South following recent North Korean missile and nuclear tests.
The two allies have not yet revealed exactly when and where the system, which fires projectiles to smash into enemy missiles, would be deployed but said they were in the final stage of selecting a potential venue.
"The DPRK will take a physical counter-action to thoroughly control THAAD... from the moment its location and place have been confirmed in South Korea," the artillery bureau of the North's military said in a statement.
North Korea's military, which has "sufficient latest offensive strike means", will take "more merciless and powerful successive corresponding measures against the US keen to ignite a war by deploying THAAD", it said.
It also warned the South of "miserable self-destruction" as a consequence of deployment of the THAAD system.
"We once again warn the enemies that it is the steadfast will of the KPA to make merciless retaliatory strikes to reduce South Korea to a sea in flames, debris once an order is issued," the statement said.
Seoul denounced the "ridiculous threats" by the North, which had staged serious provocations including a nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February.
"North Korea must recognize who is threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and first apologies for its provocations," defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-Gyun told reporters.
Tensions are high since Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a series of missile launches.
The planned deployment of the powerful anti-missile system has angered the South's neighbors including China, which said Friday the move would "seriously damage" regional security in northeast Asia.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye however defended the move as a "purely defensive" action aimed at protecting the South.
"The international community will be aware that we have no intention to target or threaten another country... we are taking a purely defensive measure to protect our country and our people," Park said in a meeting with advisors.
She also urged support from South Koreans over the deployment of powerful weapon, in the face of growing protest in the areas said to be potential venues.
On Saturday, some 3,500 residents of Chilgok County in the southeast protested against the possible deployment, saying the region had not been properly developed since US troops were stationed there in 1960.
Nearly 30,000 US troops are permanently stationed across the South.
About 3,000 residents in the central county of Eumseong county are also set to stage a mass rally Monday to protest at the lack of information provided to the public about the potential dangers posed by the defense battery and its impact on the local economy.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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