SEOUL
(Reuters) - North
Korea said on Monday
it had put its army
on full combat
alert, ready to
"blow up" South
Korea as joint
drills between the
South and the United
States got underway.
The drills, seen by
Pyongyang as nuclear
war manoeuvres, last
for about two weeks
and are aimed at
testing the allies'
defence readiness.
They draw fiery
rhetoric from the
North each year that
fuels tensions on
the Korean
peninsula, though
they have been held
for decades without
major incident.
"The units of the
three services of
the KPA (Korean
People's Army)
should keep
themselves fully
ready to go into
action in order to
blow up the citadel
of aggressors once
the order is
issued," the North's
KCNA news agency
quoted its military
command as saying.
The comments were
made after China,
the North's main
benefactor, said it
wanted stalled
nuclear disarmament
talks resumed before
July. It urged all
parties to the
six-country forum,
including the United
States and South
Korea, to try
harder.
The North has come
under pressure to
return to the
disarmament-for-aid
nuclear talks
because of U.N.
sanctions imposed
after a May 2009
nuclear test.
The North said at
the weekend that any
talks to
denuclearise the
Korean peninsula
would "naturally
come to a
standstill" because
of the drills. North
Korea conducted
"live fire"
exercises near sea
borders with the
South earlier this
year.
Sanctions have dealt
a blow to its wobbly
economy, and a
botched currency
move late last year
has sparked
inflation and rare
civil unrest.
The two Koreas are
technically still at
war because their
1950-53 conflict
ended with an
armistice and not a
peace treaty.
The Resolve/Foal
Eagle drills involve
about 18,000 U.S.
troops, U.S. Forces
Korea said, with
8,000 coming from
abroad and 10,000
already stationed in
the South.
