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US, South Korea on High Military Alert

Military organizations on highest alert since 2006 as North threatens to resume war

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted May 28, 2009 3:08 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The US and South Korea have boosted their military status to high alert after North Korea's warning yesterday that it's scrapping the treaty that halted the Korean War, the BBC reports. Military officials are closely analyzing transmissions and movement from the North, which has threatened a  "powerful military strike" if any of its ships are searched for weapons of mass destruction.

"If North Korea stages a provocation, we will respond resolutely,” said a statement from the South Korean military. “We advise our people to trust our military’s solid readiness and feel safe." The UN Security Council is working on ways to punish North Korea for its nuclear test and other actions this week, and the US has condemned Pyongyang's "sabre-rattling and and threats."

A North Korean soldier stands on duty near a stockpile of concrete blocks in the North Korean border town of Sinuiju yesterday.
A North Korean soldier stands on duty near a stockpile of concrete blocks in the North Korean border town of Sinuiju yesterday.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A pair of hands are seen wrapped around a bomb casing displayed on the Yalu River Broken Bridge, which was bombed during the Korean War to prevent China from sending aid to North Korea.
A pair of hands are seen wrapped around a bomb casing displayed on the Yalu River Broken Bridge, which was bombed during the Korean War to prevent China from sending aid to North Korea.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
South Korean Marines gather in alert on Yeonpyong Island, west of mainland South Korea, yesterday.
South Korean Marines gather in alert on Yeonpyong Island, west of mainland South Korea, yesterday.   (AP Photo/Yonhap, Ahn Jung-won)
South Korean researchers check air samples for radioactive material at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety following North Korea's nuclear test on Monday.
South Korean researchers check air samples for radioactive material at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety following North Korea's nuclear test on Monday.   (AP Photo/Yonhap, Lim Hun-jung)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 4 comments
Nwambe
May 28, 2009 11:08 AM CDT
I'm just waiting for SK and the US to open a much- and long-needed can of whoopass on Kim Jong-Il and his tinpot military. I understand that it's probably the wrong opinion to hold, and a dangerous one at that, but dammit, I want to see the NK military fail miserably once and for all to embarrass them for their rhetoric.
Observer
May 28, 2009 8:23 AM CDT
I'd say, be like the Israelis and level all of their government buildings this afternoon and do not allow aid into the country at all. Let the starving dogs tear themselves to pieces. Our radiation detectors are so good that we see anything that may prove dangerous. We also monitor everything that moves in that piss-poor dictatorship. We have predators and satellites that see everything. Get our troops out and let SK and Japan confront these cretins. I cannot believe that the average NK peasant even knows what America is.
serfinWI
May 28, 2009 7:25 AM CDT
And 9/11 and all the terrorist attacks prior to that can be blamed on Clinton. NK is testing out the new President. Let's see what he does besides condemn and threaten.

North Korea threatens to attack South
Washington Post

Defectors: Kim 'too selfish' to start war
Reuters

 
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