Date:23/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/23/stories/2006082307931600.htm

International

North Korea warns U.S.

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: North Korea declared on Tuesday that it "is no longer bound by the armistice agreement" that brought the Korean War of the early 1950s to an end without a formal peace accord or a political settlement. The comment was monitored by South Korea in Seoul that has served as a listening post for matters concerning North Korea in the past several decades. Pyongyang asserted its right to resort to a "pre-emptive strike" against the United States, South Korea's ally. The comment, seen in Seoul as a "threat," was made in the context of the ongoing annual military exercise involving the U.S. and South Korea. Pyongyang's Korean People's Army (KPA) spokesman was quoted as saying the exercise could lead to an actual war. North Korea would, therefore, reserve the right of a pre-emptive strike in "self-defence." The U.S. did not have a monopoly over the right of a pre-emptive strike, the KPA spokesman said.