But there's some (sort of) bad news, too. I picked a perfect time to be going to the DMZ. I've wanted to go since before I even got here, and now, as I finally get set to go this Saturday, North Korea decides to throw a fit. I'm still going to go, but I'll probably feel completely uneasy the whole time.
North Korea Threatens Military Strikes on South
By CHOE SANG-HUN
May 27, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean and American militaries on Thursday raised their level of alert on North Korea, a day after the Communist North threatened a military clash.
The militaries, which include 25,000 United States troops based in South Korea, raised the alert from Level 3 to Level 2, the Defense Ministry of South Korea said. The shift involves a significant increase in reconnaissance flights and spy satellite activities, as well as more vigorous gathering and analysis of electronic data from the North for signs of possible provocations, ministry officials said.
Level 2 is the second highest level of vigilance and it is invoked when military officials fear “a grave threat” from the North, the defense officials said.
On Wednesday North Korea escalated its vitriol against South Korea and the United States, warning of a “powerful military strike” if any North Korean ships were stopped or searched as part of an American-led operation to intercept vessels suspected of carrying unconventional weapons.
South Korea agreed to join the operation after North Korea tested a nuclear device on Monday, its second nuclear test in three years. The North had earlier warned the South not to participate in the operation, known as the Proliferation Security Initiative.
“We consider this a declaration of war against us,” North Korea said in a statement carried by its official news agency, KCNA. “Any hostile act against our peaceful vessels, including search and seizure, will be considered an unpardonable infringement on our sovereignty, and we will immediately respond with a powerful military strike.”
The North Koreans also said in the statement that they “no longer feel bound by the armistice” that ended the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. Technically, the two Koreas have remained at war for more than 50 years, because the 1953 armistice was never replaced with a final peace treaty. The North Koreans had previously called the armistice a “useless piece of paper” and declared that they no longer felt bound by it. But they have rarely used the threat of abandoning the armistice...
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