Pyongyang to liquidate S Korean assets
SEOUL: North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea yesterday in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, as South Korean and US forces conducted massive war games.
The North also announced it had scrapped all agreements with the South on commercial exchange projects and would “liquidate” South Korean assets left behind in its territory.
North Korea has a large stockpile of short-range missiles and is developing longrange and intercontinental missiles. Yesterday’s missiles flew about 500km into the sea off the east coast city of Wonsan and probably were part of the Soviet-developed Scud series, South Korea’s defence ministry said.
Japan, which is within range of the longerrange variant of Scud missiles or the upgraded Rodong missiles, lodged a protest through the North Korean embassy in Beijing, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.
North Korea often fires short-range missiles when tensions rise on the Korean peninsula. Pyongyang gets upset about the annual US-South Korea drills, which it says are preparations for an invasion.
The US and South Korea remain technically at war with the North because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce instead of a peace agreement.
About 17 000US military personnel are participating alongside 300 000 South Korean troops in what South Korea’s Defence Ministry has called the “largestever” joint military exercises.
On Sunday, North Korea warned it would make a “pre-emptive and offensive nuclear strike” in response to the exercises.
After yesterday’s missile launches, North Korea announced it would “liquidate” South Korean assets left behind in the Kaesong industrial zone and in the Mount Kumgang tourist zone.
South Korea protested that the move was “totally unacceptable” but did not say what it could do to recover the assets that it valued in excess of 1.4 trillion won (R17.9 billion).
Seoul suspended operations in the jointly-run zone last month as punishment for the North’s rocket launch and nuclear test.
Mount Kumgang was the first major inter-Korean co-operation project. Thousands of South Koreans visited the resort between 1998 and 2008. Seoul ended the tours in 2008 after a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist who wandered into a restricted area.
North Korea is livid about UN sanctions adopted last week following its recent nuclear test and long-range missile launch.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said the missile launches again violated a series of UN Security Council resolutions. – Reuters