North Korea Warns of Physical Retaliation Against South Korea Over Drills
By Eunkyung Seo - Aug 7, 2010 5:47 AM GMT+0200

North Korea said it will counter with “strong physical retaliation” joint military exercises by South Korea and the U.S. and plans to deploy a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier off South Korea’s western coast.

The warning isn’t an “empty threat,” the state-run Korea Central News Agency reported today, citing a commentary in the Rodong Sinmun daily newspaper. The naval drills off the Korean Peninsula are an “intolerable challenge” and a “premeditated military provocation to ignite a war,” the newspaper said, according to KCNA.

North Korea’s military warned on Aug. 3 it may take “physical retaliation” against South Korean naval ships carrying out maneuvers near their disputed border and told all shipping to avoid the area.

North Korea’s threats come amid heightened tension in the region following the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in March. South Korean and U.S. forces last month carried out exercises off the east coast.

Twenty ships, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, took part in the drills, together with hundreds of aircraft and thousands of troops. The U.S. also plans to send the carrier to South Korea’s western coast in the coming months for more exercises, sparking opposition from China.

North Korea and its ally, China, have both said the presence of the George Washington threatens security on the Korean peninsula, which has been divided since civil war ended with a stalemate in 1953.

South Korea two days ago began its own anti-submarine exercises in its western waters that will last until Aug. 10.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-07/north-korea-warns-of-physical-retaliation-against-south-korea-over-drills.html