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North Korea accuses South of declaring war

24 January 2010 04:33 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ziya Agazade â€“ APA. North Korea on Sunday accused the South of declaring war by warning earlier this month that it would launch a preemptive strike if it thought its impoverished neighbor was preparing a nuclear attack, APA reports â€œReutersâ€.

The angry retort from Pyongyang is the latest in what have become increasingly brittle relations between the two Koreas just as the international community tries to lure the North back to nuclear disarmament talks.

South Korea’s Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said last week that Seoul would have no choice but to strike first if there were clear signs of a planned nuclear attack by the North.

North Korea has twice tested a nuclear device but there are doubts whether it already has the ability to create an atomic weapon. Military analysts say even if it did it probably does not have the technology to build a nuclear warhead small enough to sit on top of a missile.

The two Koreas are still technically at war with the North maintaining an about one million-strong military and backed by an array of artillery which could bring massive damage to the South Korean capital Seoul, barely 50 miles from the border.

The smaller South Korea army is backed by around 28,000 U.S. troops on its soil and the U.S. nuclear umbrella in the region.

The North has said it is willing to end its year-long boycott but has demanded first an end to U.N. sanctions that have further damaged its crippled economy and direct talks with the United States on a peace deal to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.
Washington insists that the reclusive state first drop its nuclear weapons ambitions.