North Korea declares 'state of war' with South

SEOUL : North Korea on Saturday declared it was in a “state of war” with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

The United States said it took the announcement “seriously”, but noted it  followed a familiar pattern, while South Korea largely dismissed it as an old  threat dressed in new clothing.

It was the latest in a string of dire-sounding pronouncements from  Pyongyang that have been matched by tough warnings from Seoul and Washington,  fuelling international concern that the situation might spiral out of control.

“As of now, inter-Korea relations enter a state of war and all matters  between the two Koreas will be handled according to wartime protocol,” the  North said in a government statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

“The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace  nor at war is finally over,” the statement said, adding that any US or South  Korean provocation would trigger a “a nuclear war”.   

The two Koreas have technically remained at war for the past six decades  because the 1950-53 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace  treaty.

The North had announced earlier this month that it was ripping up the  armistice and other bilateral peace pacts signed with Seoul in protest against  South Korea-US joint military exercises.

The White House labelled the latest statement from Pyongyang as “unconstructive” and, while taking it “seriously”, sought to place the  immediate threat level in context.

“North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats and  today’s announcement follows that familiar pattern,” said National Security  Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.

In Seoul, the Unification Ministry insisted the war threat was “not really  new”. The Defence Ministry vowed to “retaliate thoroughly” to any provocation,  but added that no notable troop movement had been observed along the border.

As with past crises, Pyongyang did not allow the tensions to impact the  Kaesong industrial complex, a joint South-North venture that provides the  regime with crucial hard currency.

“The border crossing to Kaesong is functioning normally,” said Unification  Ministry spokeswoman Park Soo-Jin.

Most observers still believe this will remain a verbal rather than a  physical battle.

“The North Koreans in recent weeks have turned rhetoric into performance  art,” said Gordon Flake, a Korea specialist and executive director of the  Mansfield Foundation in Washington.

“When they have already declared the armistice null and void, I do not  think a declaration of war breaks new ground,” Flake said.

But he added that the situation had now become so volatile that any slight  miscalculation carried the potential for rapid escalation.

“The danger is, when the North Koreans have threatened a nuclear attack on  Washington, they may not know a limit on how much they can get away with,” said  Flake.

Both China and Russia called for calm Friday, with Russian Foreign Minister  Sergei Lavrov voicing particular concern.

“We can simply see the situation getting out of control, it would spiral  down into a vicious circle,” Lavrov told reporters.

His warning came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered missile  units to prepare to strike US mainland and military bases, after US stealth  bombers flew over South Korea.

The high-stakes standoff has its roots in North Korea’s successful  long-range rocket launch in December and the third nuclear test it carried out  in February.

Both events drew UN sanctions that incensed Pyongyang, which then switched  the focus of its anger to the annual joint South Korea-US military drills.

As tensions escalated, Washington has maintained a notably assertive  stance, publicising its use of nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers in  the war games.

The long-distance deployment of both sets of aircraft out of bases in Guam  and the US mainland were intended as a clear signal of US commitment to  defending South Korea against any act of aggression. - AFP