A
AALARD
Guest
N. Korea threatens 'physical response'
HANOI, Vietnam, A joint military drill by U.S. and South Korean forces "is against the sovereignty" of North Korea, a Pyongyang spokesman said at a meeting of Asian leaders.
"It is a threat to the Korean peninsula and the region of Asia as a whole, and the DPRK's position is there will be physical response to the threat imposed by the United States militarily," Ri Tong Il, spokesman for the North Korean delegation at the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting in Vietnam, said.
The joint exercise involving the U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington July 25 in waters off the east coast of the Korean peninsula is meant to deliver a "clear message" to the DPRK that provocations must be stopped, South Korean ministers have said.
Asian leaders at the Vietnam meeting were preparing a statement of "deep concerns" about the sinking of a South Korean warship, Yonhap reported Friday.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the evidence "overwhelming" that the Cheonan, a South Korean warship that sank in March, was hit by a North Korean torpedo.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations was conducting its annual security forum in Hanoi and drafting a statement about the sinking that would express concerns similar to those of the United Nations, Yonhap said.
"The ministers expressed deep concerns over the sinking of (South Korea's) naval ship, the Cheonan," read an ASEAN draft statement obtained by the South Korean news agency and published Friday.
The draft expressed support for the U.N. Security Council's statement on the Cheonan sinking, in which 46 sailors died. The U.N. statement did not blame North Korea for the Cheonan sinking but condemned the March attack.
If adopted, the ASEAN statement would align with statements the organization and other groups issued previously, Yonhap said. In the draft, ministers "stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and called on all concerned parties to resolve all disputes by peaceful means."
The statement reaffirmed support for "the complete and verifiable" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and urged resumption of six-party talks involving the Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
HANOI, Vietnam, A joint military drill by U.S. and South Korean forces "is against the sovereignty" of North Korea, a Pyongyang spokesman said at a meeting of Asian leaders.
"It is a threat to the Korean peninsula and the region of Asia as a whole, and the DPRK's position is there will be physical response to the threat imposed by the United States militarily," Ri Tong Il, spokesman for the North Korean delegation at the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting in Vietnam, said.
The joint exercise involving the U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington July 25 in waters off the east coast of the Korean peninsula is meant to deliver a "clear message" to the DPRK that provocations must be stopped, South Korean ministers have said.
Asian leaders at the Vietnam meeting were preparing a statement of "deep concerns" about the sinking of a South Korean warship, Yonhap reported Friday.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the evidence "overwhelming" that the Cheonan, a South Korean warship that sank in March, was hit by a North Korean torpedo.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations was conducting its annual security forum in Hanoi and drafting a statement about the sinking that would express concerns similar to those of the United Nations, Yonhap said.
"The ministers expressed deep concerns over the sinking of (South Korea's) naval ship, the Cheonan," read an ASEAN draft statement obtained by the South Korean news agency and published Friday.
The draft expressed support for the U.N. Security Council's statement on the Cheonan sinking, in which 46 sailors died. The U.N. statement did not blame North Korea for the Cheonan sinking but condemned the March attack.
If adopted, the ASEAN statement would align with statements the organization and other groups issued previously, Yonhap said. In the draft, ministers "stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and called on all concerned parties to resolve all disputes by peaceful means."
The statement reaffirmed support for "the complete and verifiable" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and urged resumption of six-party talks involving the Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
