Tensions Flare as N. Korea Axes Pacts With South

Risk of border skirmishes looms
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 30, 2009 2:14 AM CST
Tensions Flare as N. Korea Axes Pacts With South
Tens of thousands of North Koreans pump their fists in unison during a rally in Pyongyang. The North is canceling all accords with the South.   (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

North Korea is unilaterally scrapping all agreements with South Korea as political and military tensions mount between the rival neighbors. The North Koreans are even repudiating the 1953 truce which ended the Korean war, reports the New York Times. Analysts see the move as a tactic to grab the attention of the Obama administration.

“Relations between the North and South have worsened to the point where there is no way or hope of correcting them,” declared the North Korean statement. “They have reached the extreme point where the clash of fire against fire, steel against steel, has become inevitable.”
(More South Korea stories.)

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