Seoul • North Korea yesterday threatened to “mercilessly wipe out” US forces in case of war during a national meeting to mark leader Kim Jong-Il’s 42 years’ work at the ruling party.
The threat, in a ruling party report carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), came as North Korea was reportedly preparing to test-fire a long-range missile despite strong protests from the United States and its allies.
Choe Thae Bok, a ranking Workers’ Party official, said Washington was “hell-bent on provocations of war of aggression” in the report to mark the 42nd anniversary of Kim’s start at the party, KCNA said.
“If the enemies ignite a war eventually, the Korean army and people will mercilessly wipe out the aggressors and give vent to the deep-rooted grudge of the nation,” Choe was quoted as telling the meeting.
North Koreans are customarily advised to watch the televised event, according to Seoul officials.
Japanese and South Korean media said North Korea was planning a missile test for this week.
North Korean technicians have already reportedly assembled a multi-stage Taepodong-2, with a range of 3,500 km to 6,000 km.
CBS News reported that South Korea’s ambassador to the US, Lee Tae-sik, had told Korean correspondents in Washington that Pyongyang may have fuelled a missile already. “Satellite photos confirmed scores of fuel tanks near the missile launch pad,” he said. “We are not sure whether they had already completed fuelling or located (the tanks) there to fuel it.”
South Korea, which seeks to reconcile with N Korea after decades of hostility since the 1950-1953 Korean War, has urged Pyongyang to abandon any plans to test-fire the missile.
But South Korea maintained its usual level of military alert yesterday despite the news reports about an imminent missile test launch. “The military is on the same level of alert as usual. There has been no upgrade in the military alert yet,” a defence ministry spokesman said.
Japan warned North Korea yesterday of “a harsh response” from Tokyo and Washington if it went ahead with the launch of a long-range missile.
Amid reports that a launch was imminent, a Japanese official quoted by the Sankei Shimbun daily said North Korea’s leadership had told people to raise the flag at 0500 GMT and monitor television for a “message to the people”.
The time came and went without any reports of a missile test.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said North Korea’s reported instruction might not be linked to the missile launch, saying it could be preparations for another national event. “On June 18 last year, North Korea also told its people to watch an evening television report,” the official told Yonhap.
Japan’s Jiji Press news agency reported that Japanese Defence Agency officials had concluded that a launch was not imminent, but that monitoring would continue.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said in a television interview his country would seek an immediate meeting of the UN Security Council if Pyongyang went ahead with a test.
He voiced concern about the possibility of a missile landing on Japan, but toned down a remark made in an earlier interview that Japan would automatically regard this as an attack. “We will not right away view it as a military act,” he said.
He also stopped short of saying what Japan and the US would do in the event of a launch. But he said: “The responses will be rather harsh”.
North Korea shocked the world in 1998 by firing a missile without any warning over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.
North Korea last year declared it had nuclear weapons. Pyongyang has boycotted six-way talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programme since November, after the US imposed sanctions on the North for alleged counterfeiting and money-laundering.
