Telegraph.co.uk
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The
foreign ministry on Friday gave ambassadors in Pyongyang until
Wednesday to say if they needed help with closing their missions and
evacuating staff.
North Korea: we can't keep you safe, Pyongyang tells foreign embassies
North Korea has taken a further step to prepare for possible conflict, telling foreign embassies that their safety could not be guaranteed in the event of war.
South Korean soldiers prepare 155 mm howitzers for a military exercise Photo: AP
6:13PM BST 05 Apr 2013
The foreign ministry on Friday gave ambassadors in Pyongyang until Wednesday
to say if they needed help with closing their missions and evacuating staff.
Britain
responded by saying there was "no immediate" plan to shut its
embassy in North Korea.
The significance of next Wednesday is unclear, although it has also been
mentioned as a date for the possible closure of the Kaesong Industrial
Complex, a facility inside the North where South Korean companies employ
53,000 people.
On Friday North Korea released a video of Kim Jong-Un firing a handgun
Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has sparked a regional crisis by testing
a nuclear weapon and then revoking the armistice with South Korea and
threatening immediate attack.
In response to tighter United Nations sanctions and annual US-South Korean
military exercises, Mr Kim has gone so far as to "authorise" a
nuclear strike on America.
Washington has responded by bolstering its defences around the Pacific
Island base of Guam and sending nuclear-capable B2 bombers over the Korean
Peninsula.
But a Foreign Office spokesman made clear that Britain had not decided to close its embassy. London established diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2001, opening an embassy in Pyongyang which concentrates on nuclear proliferation and human rights. Michael Gifford, the current British ambassador, remains in North Korea.
Britain had not interpreted the communication from North Korea as a recommendation to leave, said the Foreign Office. The regime was simply pointing out that it "would be unable to guarantee the safety of Embassies and international organisations" in the "event of conflict".
There were more signs of escalation on Friday. The North Korean foreign ministry declared the question was "not whether, but when a war would break out" owing to the "increasing threat from the United States", according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.
North Korea is understood to have moved a second long range missile to its east coast, which has been the location for previous test launches. The weapons are believed to be "Musudans", an untested model with a possible range of 2,000 to 2,500 miles - theoretically enough to strike Japan and Guam.
South Korea countered by deploying two destroyers equipped with the Aegis missile defence system. One warship will patrol the country's east coast and the other will protect the west, tasked with shooting down any hostile North Korean missiles.
Aegis is a sophisticated system combining radars with projectiles capable of destroying a missile in-flight. At a minimum, the warships would be able to track any North Korean missile launches and establish whether they are harmless test firings - or acts of war. "If the North fires off a missile, we will trace its trajectory," an official told Yonhap, the South Korean news agency.
However, Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said that North Korea's behaviour followed a familiar pattern of provocation and was unlikely to lead to war. Any such conflict would pit North Korea against the US, guaranteeing Mr Kim's defeat.
A Cuban Army anti-aircraft battery during the 1962 missile crisis
(Reuters)
As tensions rise, Mr Kim has stepped up his personal security, perhaps in fear of a military coup, a Japanese newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, reported. In particular, about 100 armoured vehicles have been deployed close to Mr Kim's official residence in Pyongyang, said the paper, quoting diplomatic sources.
"The situation inside North Korea is very unstable and the military are making a lot of complaints to their political leaders," said Toshimitsu Shigemura, an expert on North Korea at Wasaeda University in Tokyo. "The military needs tension with South Korea and the US to justify themselves and Kim is terrified of a coup."
Mr Shigemura added: "These are very clever old soldiers, but Kim is just a 29-year-old with limited experience who has been given the task of leading the country."
Fidel Castro, the retired Cuban leader, described the Korean confrontation as the most dangerous since the missile crisis that he helped to cause in 1962.
While hailing North Korea as a "friend", Mr Castro told the state media that his ally must remember its "duties to other countries". Nuclear war would "affect in a special way more than 70 per cent of the world's population," he said.
end quote from:
But a Foreign Office spokesman made clear that Britain had not decided to close its embassy. London established diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2001, opening an embassy in Pyongyang which concentrates on nuclear proliferation and human rights. Michael Gifford, the current British ambassador, remains in North Korea.
Britain had not interpreted the communication from North Korea as a recommendation to leave, said the Foreign Office. The regime was simply pointing out that it "would be unable to guarantee the safety of Embassies and international organisations" in the "event of conflict".
There were more signs of escalation on Friday. The North Korean foreign ministry declared the question was "not whether, but when a war would break out" owing to the "increasing threat from the United States", according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.
North Korea is understood to have moved a second long range missile to its east coast, which has been the location for previous test launches. The weapons are believed to be "Musudans", an untested model with a possible range of 2,000 to 2,500 miles - theoretically enough to strike Japan and Guam.
South Korea countered by deploying two destroyers equipped with the Aegis missile defence system. One warship will patrol the country's east coast and the other will protect the west, tasked with shooting down any hostile North Korean missiles.
Aegis is a sophisticated system combining radars with projectiles capable of destroying a missile in-flight. At a minimum, the warships would be able to track any North Korean missile launches and establish whether they are harmless test firings - or acts of war. "If the North fires off a missile, we will trace its trajectory," an official told Yonhap, the South Korean news agency.
However, Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said that North Korea's behaviour followed a familiar pattern of provocation and was unlikely to lead to war. Any such conflict would pit North Korea against the US, guaranteeing Mr Kim's defeat.
A Cuban Army anti-aircraft battery during the 1962 missile crisis
(Reuters)
As tensions rise, Mr Kim has stepped up his personal security, perhaps in fear of a military coup, a Japanese newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, reported. In particular, about 100 armoured vehicles have been deployed close to Mr Kim's official residence in Pyongyang, said the paper, quoting diplomatic sources.
"The situation inside North Korea is very unstable and the military are making a lot of complaints to their political leaders," said Toshimitsu Shigemura, an expert on North Korea at Wasaeda University in Tokyo. "The military needs tension with South Korea and the US to justify themselves and Kim is terrified of a coup."
Mr Shigemura added: "These are very clever old soldiers, but Kim is just a 29-year-old with limited experience who has been given the task of leading the country."
Fidel Castro, the retired Cuban leader, described the Korean confrontation as the most dangerous since the missile crisis that he helped to cause in 1962.
While hailing North Korea as a "friend", Mr Castro told the state media that his ally must remember its "duties to other countries". Nuclear war would "affect in a special way more than 70 per cent of the world's population," he said.
end quote from:
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