Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... efer=japan
By Heejin Koo
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea placed its military on alert after North Korea threatened “strong military retaliatory steps” over the government in Seoul’s confrontational policies.
South Korea ordered its army, navy and air force to “strengthen their alert status,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement yesterday. “No particular movements by the North Korean military have been detected,” it added.
The General Staff of the North Korean army made its announcement two days ago in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Sang Hee and other leaders met immediately after the declaration and discussed their nation’s readiness, the military in Seoul said.
North Korea imposed border restrictions with South Korea at the start of last month, accusing the government in Seoul of taking confrontation “beyond the danger level.”
North Korea has repeatedly called South Korean President Lee Myung Bak a “traitor” and a “sycophant to the U.S.” The regime has demanded South Korea stop civic organizations from launching balloons loaded with so-called propaganda leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
North Korea and South Korea are still technically at war as their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce and not a peace treaty. The two nations are separated by one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders, with 1.7 million soldiers facing off each day.
Nuclear Program
North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon in 2006, has rejected international demands that inspectors be allowed to remove samples from its Yongbyon reactor, the source of the regime’s weapons-grade plutonium. The refusal has stalled six- nation disarmament talks that also involve the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
President Lee today nominated Hyun In Taek, a political science professor, to replace Kim Ha Joong as South Korea’s unification minister. The post is subject to parliamentary approval.
Hyun “played a key role in devising the current administration’s policy on North Korea, and is regarded as being well versed in North Korean matters as well as on defense,” presidential spokesman Lee Dong Kwan told reporters today. He didn’t specify why Kim was being replaced.
