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* From: AAP
* August 17, 2011 9:10PM NORTH Korea has vowed to bolster its nuclear deterrent, describing an
exercise by US and South Korean troops as preparation for a "war of
aggression" against it.
The 10-day drill, which began yesterday, showed the US was not committed
to dialogue over nuclear disarmament, a foreign ministry spokesman said
in a statement published by the North's official Korean Central News
Agency today. "The prevailing situation goes to prove that the US is not set to
realise the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula through dialogue
and negotiations ... " he said. "It is self-evident that the DPRK (North Korea) should put spurs to
bolstering its nuclear deterrent for self-defence both in quality and
quantity to cope with this situation. "It is preposterous for the US to urge the DPRK to refrain from
bolstering its nuclear deterrent, while whetting its swords for a war of
aggression behind the scene of dialogue." Any aggressive action against the North will face "merciless
counteraction", the spokesman added. During the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise US and South Korean troops
will simulate the detection and destruction of North Korean atomic
bombs, missiles and chemical weapons, according to the Yonhap news agency. The two countries have described the annual exercise as defensive and
routine. But the North last week urged Washington and Seoul to show their
willingness to work towards denuclearisation by scrapping the exercise. Pyongyang published an open letter in its state media that also called
for a peace-keeping mechanism to replace the armistice that ended the
1950-53 war. A flurry of diplomatic efforts have been under way to resume stalled
six-party disarmament talks involving the two Koreas, Russia, China,
Japan and the US. Senior Pyongyang officials met their counterparts in Seoul and
Washington last month, raising hopes that the talks - last held in
December 2008 - could resume. The North has repeatedly expressed a desire to return to the forum, but
the US has urged it to show more sincerity and mend ties with the South
first.
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