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SKorean leader in US as NKorea tension soars

Activists send leaflets over border denouncing NKorea leader
South Korean activists floated 100,000 leaflets attached to balloons across the tense border into North Korea on Monday condemning the communist state's nuclear and missile programmes. Around 20 people, including defectors, released 10 huge balloons carrying bundles of the flyers, one of which bore the slogan "Dismantle nuclear weapons and missiles!" The leaflets also call for the toppling of leader Kim Jong-Il. North Korean banknotes were attached to the bundles to encourage people to risk punishment by picking them up. The launch came two days after the North vowed to build more nuclear bombs and to start enriching uranium for a new atomic weapons programme. It was responding angrily to UN Security Council sanctions imposed following its May 25 nuclear test. The leaflet campaign, the latest in a series, was led by Park Sang-Hak, who heads a group of North Korean defectors. The balloons were released at Imjingak just south of the border. The Seoul government has urged the activists to halt the campaign on the grounds that it inflames already tense relations, but says it cannot legally ban it.

100,000 rally in NKorea against UN sanctions: state media
More than 100,000 people rallied in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Monday to denounce United Nations action against the isolated communist state, official media said. The Korean Central News Agency also quoted a military official as telling the crowd that the North "will promptly exercise the right to preemptive strike to beat back the enemies' slightest provocation," referring to the United States. The UN Security Council on Friday voted unanimously to impose tougher sanctions for Pyongyang's recent nuclear test, its second. North Korea had already vowed to build more bombs and to start a new weapons programme based on uranium enrichment in response to the sanctions. At Monday's "mammoth" rally, Kim Ki-Nam, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, was quoted blaming Washington for pushing for the sanctions, adding they would not weaken the North. "The UNSC's 'resolution on sanctions' is an intolerable mockery of the dignity of the Korean people and an arrogant criminal act of wantonly violating its sovereignty," Kim was quoted as saying. North Korea is also prepared to "deal telling blows at the vital parts of the US and wipe out all its imperialist aggressor troops no matter where they are in the world," the report quoted Pak Jae-Gyong as telling the rally. It said Pak is vice-minister of the People's Armed Forces and was speaking on behalf of the Korean People's Army. The report, which could not be independently verified, said various military and political figures, students and "people from all walks of life" attended the huge rally, but there was no mention of leader Kim Jong-Il taking part.

US Congress votes against 'hostile' NKorea
The US Congress on Monday called on North Korea to end its "hostile rhetoric" towards its southern neighbor as South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak opened a visit to Washington. The House of Representatives in a resolution said that North Korea should "immediately stop any hostile rhetoric and activity towards the Republic of Korea and engage in mutual dialogue to enhance inter-Korean relations." The chamber also called on North Korea, which last month tested a nuclear bomb, to comply with a UN resolution and a previous six-nation deal seeking an end to its nuclear program.
by Staff Writers
 Washington (AFP) June 15, 2009
 South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on Monday started a visit to the United States to plan action on North Korea, which staged a giant rally in a defiant show of support for its nuclear drive.

The US Congress approved a resolution supporting Lee against the North hours after he arrived. Lee was due to meet late Monday with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before a summit Tuesday with President Barack Obama.

Lee was expected to ask Obama for explicit security guarantees after North Korea tested a nuclear bomb, stormed out of a six-nation disarmament accord and scrapped six decades of accords with the South.

The North's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Monday that Lee's request was "intolerable" and said that such commitment would be "virtually formalizing a provocation for nuclear war."

Dennis Blair, the US intelligence chief, said Monday that a scientific analysis concluded that North Korea "probably" carried out its second-ever nuclear test in May with a yield of "a few kilotons."

The UN Security Council last week tightened sanctions against North Korea over the test, including calling for stricter inspections of cargo suspected of containing banned missile and nuclear-related items.

North Korean state media said that some 100,000 people rallied in Pyongyang against the UN Security Council resolution, blaming Washington for organizing it.

North Korea is ready to "deal telling blows at the vital parts of the US and wipe out all its imperialist aggressor troops no matter where they are in the world," military officer Pak Jae-Gyong was quoted as telling the rally.

Lee, a conservative businessman, took office last year. To the delight of many in Washington, he reversed a decade-long "sunshine policy" under which Seoul provided aid to the impoverished North with few conditions.

In Seoul, Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek said that North Korea never intended to give up its atomic weaponry and is thought to have been developing a secret program for seven to eight years despite taking part in talks.

In its response to the UN Security Council resolution, the communist state vowed Saturday to build more bombs and to start a new weapons program based on uranium enrichment.

Hyun told a parliamentary hearing he believes the enrichment program -- a second route to an atomic bomb after the North's admitted plutonium operation -- had in fact been in existence for years.

"As the US raised the accusation in 2002, I believe (the uranium enrichment program) had started before that. I believe it has been there for at least seven to eight years," Hyun said in answer to a question.

Several analysts and officials believe ailing leader Kim Jong-Il, 67, is intensifying military tensions to bolster his authority as he tries to put in place a succession plan involving his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un.

Amid US reports that North Korea could be preparing its third nuclear test, South Korea has sent extra troops and naval units to border islands seen as a likely flashpoint.

The US House of Representatives approved a resolution demanding that North Korea end its "hostile rhetoric" against Seoul and abide by UN resolutions and the six-nation nuclear accord.

"I think it's important that the president and the secretary of state know that Congress will stand behind them if they have to take stronger action," said the resolution's main sponsor, Republican Congressman Peter King.

"I think everything should be on the table," he said.

burs/sct/ksh

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NUKEWARS
NKorea Spent Years Developing Nukes, Amid Claims Of More Tests
 Seoul (AFP) June 15, 2009
 North Korea is thought to have been developing a secret atomic weapons programme for seven or eight years despite taking part in long-running nuclear disarmament talks, a South Korean minister said Monday. Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek said Pyongyang never intended to give up its atomic weaponry, even though previous Seoul governments practised a decade-long "sunshine" aid and engagement ... read more






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