[USFK Forums] North Korea Bristles at U.S.-South Drill [AP]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Friday, March 24, 2006

North Korea Bristles at U.S.-South Drills

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press WriterThu Mar 23, 8:46 AM ET

SEOUL (AP) - North Korea warned Thursday it will react to upcoming joint U.S-South Korean joint military exercises with an unspecified "strong measure of self-defense," condemning the drill as saber-rattling for a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the North.

"Now that the U.S. intention to stifle the DPRK has become very clear, the DPRK will react to it with a strong measure for self-defense," a spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry said in statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

DPRK is a commonly used acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The weeklong exercises "dubbed RSOI and Foal Eagle" are scheduled to begin Saturday with 20,000 American troops, along with the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, and an undisclosed number of South Korean soldiers.

The communist state has long claimed the U.S. is bent on invading the country, condemning the annual military drill as a "rehearsal" for an attack. The U.S. and South Korea characterize them as purely defensive.

"The U.S. decision to let carrier Abraham Lincoln and its task flotilla participate in the exercises goes to clearly indicate what reckless and dangerous phase the U.S. moves for a pre-emptive attack have reached," the spokesman said.

The spokesman also warned that U.S. sanctions against the North will not make Pyongyang change its stance. He didn't elaborate but the comment appeared to refer to the stalled talks on his country's nuclear weapons program.

The communist country has refused to resume the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks since November, demanding that Washington lift financial restrictions imposed on a Macau bank and North Korean companies for alleged complicity in counterfeiting and money laundering.

Earlier this month, U.S. and North Korean officials met in New York over the U.S. restrictions, but failed to produce any breakthrough. Washington says the financial actions are separate from the nuclear talks.

The North has said that the resumption of the six-party talks and resolution of the nuclear issue depends entirely on the U.S. attitude.

The talks — which involve the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia — produced a breakthrough accord in September when the North agreed to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for aid and security assurances. But follow-up negotiations have stalled over the North's anger at U.S. sanctions.

Earlier this week, North Korea suggested it had the ability to launch a pre-emptive attack on the United States and said it had built atomic weapons to counter the U.S. nuclear threat.

The spokesman said the U.S.-South Korea drills would also adversely affect inter-Korean relations.

North Korea has put off high-level talks with the South that had been planned in Pyongyang the same week as the March 25-31 exercises.



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[BIGD]

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! EVERY YEAR AT THIS TIME THE FOLE EAGLE EXERCISE HAPPENS AND EVERY YEAR AT THIS TIME THE NORTH RATTLES THEIR "SWORDS". WHY DOES THE PRESS EVEN REPORT THIS CRAP??? IT GETS REALLY OLD.....