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DPRK threatens to harm US if attacked
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-22 13:38 SEOUL, ROK: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) boasted of being a "proud nuclear power" and threatened Monday to harm the US if attacked as tensions mounted over a possible crackdown on exports of suspected missile parts from the DPRK. President Barack Obama said the US is ready to cope with "any contingencies" involving the DPRK and vowed not to "reward belligerence and provocation." YTN news network from the Republic of Korea (ROK) reported Sunday that a US Navy destroyer tailing a DPRK ship suspected of carrying missiles and related parts in what could be the first test of new UN sanctions against the DPRK over its recent nuclear test.
On Monday, the DPRK's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper called it "nonsense" to say the country is a threat to the US, and instead claimed Washington was the one threatening the DPRK. The paper also warned in a commentary that the country is prepared to strike back if attacked. "As long as our country has become a proud nuclear power, the US should take a correct look at whom it is dealing with," the editorial said. "It would be a grave mistake for the US to think it can remain unhurt if it ignites the fuse of war on the Korean peninsula." The Rodong Sinmun also denounced Obama's recent pledge to defend and protect the ROK — even promising to keep Seoul "under the US nuclear umbrella" — as an attempt to attack the DPRK with atomic bombs. Obama made the commitment in a joint statement after a summit last week with the ROK's President Lee Myung-bak. The DPRK calls its nuclear program a deterrent against the US, which Pyongyang routinely accuses of plotting to topple the DPRK government. The US, which has 28,500 troops in the ROK, has said it has no such intentions, and has no nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. Obama said the US is prepared for any DPRK provocation, including the government's reported threat to test-launch a long-range missile toward Hawaii. Japanese media have reported that the DPRK appear to be preparing for a long-range test planned sometime around July 4, the Independence Day holiday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered additional protections for Hawaii as a precaution. "This administration — and our military — is fully prepared for any contingencies," Obama said Friday during an interview with CBS News' "The Early Show" to be broadcast Monday. "I don't want to speculate on hypotheticals," Obama said. "But I want ... to give assurances to the American people that the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted in terms of what might happen." A DPRK cargo ship, the Kang Nam, is expected to travel to Myanmar via Singapore, YTN said, citing an unidentified intelligence source in the ROK. Two US officials said Thursday that the US military had begun tracking the ship, which left a DPRK port on Wednesday. One official said it was uncertain what the Kang Nam was carrying but that it had been involved in weapons proliferation before. Both spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence. A senior US military official told The Associated Press on Friday that a Navy ship, the USS John S. McCain, is relatively close to the DPRK vessel but had no orders to intercept it under the Security Council resolution and had not requested that authority. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The US ship, a guided missile destroyer, is named after the grandfather and father of former US presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. Both were admirals. McCain said Sunday that the US should board the Kang Nam even without the DPRK permission if hard evidence shows it is carrying missiles or other cargo in violation of UN resolutions. "I think we should board it. It's going to contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to rogue nations that pose a direct threat to the United States," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation." |
