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NKorea bans ships off eastern port from Wednesday: Japan
Tokyo (AFP) June 8, 2009 North Korea is warning ships to stay out of waters off its eastern port of Wonsan for three weeks from Wednesday, the Japan Coast Guard said, raising concerns Pyongyang is planning more missile tests. North Korea is alerting vessels by radio not to enter an area that measures 100 by 263 kilometres (60 by 165 miles) at its widest points from June 10 to 30 between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm, a coast guard spokesman said Monday. "We have acknowledged the information and soon afterward issued the same warning to those who may travel in this region," the spokesman said. The news came amid increasing speculation that North Korea is preparing to test-fire several medium-range missiles from its southeast coast. At least three missiles are apparently being prepared for launch from a missile base in Anbyon County, near Wonsan, a port city about 100 kilometres northeast of Seoul, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday. The report said that several vehicles mounted with mobile launch pads were spotted at the base. The Japan Coast Guard picked up a similar warning in May, only days before Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test and also launched a series of short-range missiles. "We can't deny the possibility that North Korea is moving toward launching missiles, including ballistic missiles, in response to developments related to a UN Security Council resolution," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura. "We are doing everything to secure the peace and security of Japan and its people, while collecting and analysing information." South Korean and US forces on the peninsula are on heightened alert after the North threatened a possible attack in response to Seoul's decision to join a US-led initiative to halt the trade in weapons of mass destruction. The North has also warned of "self-defence measures" in response to any tougher international sanctions.
earlier related report The new US administration appeared to be contemplating trouble-shooting roles for high-profile politicians, as the White House said President Barack Obama is using "all possible channels" to win their freedom. The State Department last week also did not rule out possible intervention by former vice president Al Gore, the chairman of Current TV, the California station that employs the journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations who in the past negotiated the release of Americans in North Korea, said he had been contacted by the administration for advice in the case. Richardson predicted the political negotiations would now begin in what he called a "high stakes poker game" for their release, but he added it was too early to talk of sending an envoy to the region. The White House however said it hoped that the release of the journalists would not be linked to other issues. "Their detainment is not something that we've linked to other issues and we hope the North Koreans don't do that either," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "I think this is a humanitarian issue and these women are innocent and should be released," he said. US officials told AFP that Sweden has confirmed with the North Korean foreign ministry that Ling and Lee were found guilty of committing a "grave crime" against North Korea and of illegally entering the country. Sweden acts on behalf of US interests in Pyongyang in the absence of a US diplomatic mission there. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly called for their release. "We think that the government in North Korea should release them on humanitarian grounds," Kelly told reporters. "The whole judicial process ... has played out now, and we think it's time for them to be released just on pure humanitarian grounds," he said without elaborating on what the grounds were. Ling and Lee were detained by North Korean border guards on March 17 along the frozen Tumen River, which marks the North's border with China, while researching a story on refugees fleeing the hardline communist state. The pair, both aged in their 30s, were on reporting assignment for San Francisco-based Current TV, a company co-founded by Gore. Interviewed on NBC's Today Show, Richardson said he had spoken with the families of Ling and Lee but did not give details of the conversation. Richardson said the administration had contacted him for advice but that any talk of a US envoy for the case was "premature" because a framework for negotiations on a potential humanitarian release had to first be established. "What we would try to seek would be some kind of a political pardon, some kind of a respite from the legal proceedings," Richardson said. In 1996, then-US congressman Richardson negotiated the release of Evan Hunziker, who had been detained for three months on suspicion of spying after swimming the Yalu border river. In 1994, Richardson also negotiated the release of the surviving pilot of a US Army helicopter downed in North Korea, along with the body of his dead co-pilot. He said it is "good news" that Pyongyang had not charged the two women with espionage and that it seems to separate their cases from political differences with Washington. Washington and Pyongyang have been at loggerheads over North Korea's nuclear test on May 25 and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Sunday that it might place the reclusive regime back on the US list of state sponsors of terror, which could translate to more financial sanctions for the North. But Clinton told ABC television that the US government has made clear that the case of the women is a humanitarian issue. She reiterated that the charges against the pair were baseless and they should be allowed to return home. Both detainees are married and Lee has a four-year-old daughter. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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History of North Korea's previous releases of US citizensSeoul (AFP) June 8, 2009 Two female journalists jailed in North Korea Monday could be freed after a political deal with Washington, analysts said, in line with earlier releases of US citizens following high-level intervention. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years in a labour camp for an illegal border crossing and an unspecified "grave crime." They were detained by North Korean border guards on ... read more |
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