(VOVworld) – The situation on the Korean peninsula has become tense, with the two Koreas both stepping up their military activities. It has raised public fears of a new period of instability which could derail the resumption of 6-party talks on a nuclear free peninsula.
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| A US Air Force soldier (L) talks to South Korean soldiers during annual joint exercises south of Seoul, on March 14 |
The situation on the Korean peninsula has been particularly stressful while the US and the Republic of Korea conduct their annual joint-military exercise. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has responded by test-firing scores of short-range missiles into the sea. The Republic of Korea is anticipating the 4th anniversary of the sinking of the navy ship Cheonan in the Yellow Sea on March 26, 2010, killing 46 sailors. A South Korean-led international investigation found that North Korea had torpedoed the ship, though Pyongyang denied the accusation.
Showing off military capability
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea said it fired tens of short-range missiles from its eastern coast into the sea over the past 2 weeks to protest the US-Republic of Korea joint military maneuver which began in early February and will end in the middle of April. The missiles were surface to surface Frog rockets produced and used by the former Soviet Union in the 1960s.
Pyongyang said its routine missile tests didn’t target any country.
On March 24th, Seoul announced it would spend 7 billion USD to buy 40 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets. South Korea also confirmed plans to buy four Northrop Grumman Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to monitor its border with North Korea.
Criticism and threat instead of dialogue
A spokesman for North Korea’s Strategic Rockets Forces accused the US and South Korea of causing the instability by conducting large-scale military exercise. He made it clear that if the US and South Korea’s provocative acts go too far, North Korea’s rocket tests will turn from defense to retaliation.
Ri Tong Il, North Korea’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN, said on Monday that the US has intentionally caused tension on the Korean peninsula and Washington’s conditions for resuming the nuclear talks were just a pretext to avoid dialogue. He warned that North Korea will respond if the US doesn’t stop its activities. But Ri said Pyongyang is leaving the door open for negotiation without any pre-conditions.
At the UN Nuclear Security Summit in the Hague, Netherlands, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged North Korea to quickly resolve matters through peaceful measures.
Meanwhile, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin condemned Pyongyang’s numerous rocket tests for causing tension on the peninsula. Kim said Seoul is vigilantly watching for further provocative actions from Pyongyang.
Although Pyongyang’s rocket tests targeted no specific sites and ROK’s joint-military exercise with the US is defensive, they have heightened tension on the peninsula.