North Cuts Military Hotline With South
N. Korean Military in Combat Mode As S. Korea-US Military Drill Starts
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
The government expressed regrets over North Korea's cut-off of inter-Korean military communication channels and called for immediate withdrawal of the measure, Monday, amid mounting tension on the Korean Peninsula.
The North Korean measure was construed as a protest against the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercise, the annual large-scale military drill between South Korea and the United States, which began the same day.
According to the Ministry of Unification, more than 700 South Koreans cancelled their trip to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North and it remains uncertain whether southerners at the site could make it home since the phone lines are necessary to permit border crossings.
The Stalinist state also warned of a full-scale war if its planned ``satellite'' launch is intercepted.
Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said the South will promptly take necessary measures in a bid to ensure the safety of South Koreans in the North and help South Korean firms do their business there.
``The government has coped with the situation with patience but is distressed at North Korea's actions,'' Kim told reporters. ``We call for stopping criticism and tension-producing in accordance with inter-Korean agreements.''
The spokesman made the remark immediately after North Korea announced that it will cut military hotlines with South Korea during the 12-day joint military drills and ordered its military to be fully ready for combat.
``In a bid to assure the safety of North-South the joint control area, we will enforce more strict military control,'' a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in a statement.
Last Thursday, the North said that it cannot ensure the safety of South Korean civil flights over its airspace, slamming the U.S.-South Korea drill involving tens of thousands of troops.
The North Korea spokesman said, ``We will retaliate any act of intercepting our satellite for peaceful purposes with prompt counter strikes by the most powerful military means.''
``Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war,'' he added.
Late last month, Pyongyang announced it was preparing to launch the satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 as part of its space program, but many outside experts said it could be a test launch of a Taepondong-2 long-range missile capable of hitting Alaska and Hawaii.
Following the suspension of the communication channel, South Koreans cancelled their trips to the industrial park, but about 570 workers are still staying in the North.
South Koreans are allowed to visit the communist state only after their trip is reported to North Korea via the military hotlines. Likewise, they can return home only when the North approves their departure.
Asked about the government's plan to evacuate all South Korean personnel from the Gaeseong park, spokesman Kim refused to comment but only said the government is doing its utmost for the safety of the people there.
The joint industrial complex, a symbol of reconciliatory efforts and the 10-year engagement policy, has more than 80 South Korean firms and employs about 30,000 North Korean workers, producing clothes, watches and other products.
Pyongyang kicked South Korean government officials out of the site last March and began to restrict border crossings in December as a retaliatory measure against the Lee Myung-bak administration's tougher stance on the Stalinist state.