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NKorea warns of retaliation against Seoul's policy
By KWANGTAE KIM,Associated Press Writer AP - 1 hour 35 minutes ago
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's military warned Saturday that South Korea's "confrontational" policies may force it to retaliate against Seoul, further escalating tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.
North Korea also said its priority is to build up its "nuclear deterrent force" to protect itself and not to normalize diplomatic ties with the United States.
The North said even if diplomatic relations with the U.S. are normalized, North Korea's "status as a nuclear weapons state will remain unchanged as long as it is exposed even to the slightest U.S. nuclear threat," according to a Foreign Ministry statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
North Korean state media regularly accuse the U.S. of planning to attack the communist regime, but Washington denies any such intention.
North Korea also said it has "weaponized" 67.8 pounds (about 30.8 kilograms) into warheads, Selig Harrison, director of the Washington-based Center for International Policy's Asia program, told reporters in Beijing after returning from his trip to Pyongyang.
He said that much plutonium would produce four to five warheads, depending on the grade of plutonium, the specific weapons design and the desired explosive yield.
In a separate KCNA dispatch, the Korean People's Army called South Korea's president a "traitor" and accused him of preparing for a military provocation. It warned that Seoul's hard-line stance compelled Pyongyang to "take an all-out confrontational posture."
South Korean presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said he had no immediate comment.
South Korea denies taking a confrontational stance and has repeatedly called for dialogue with the North.
The rare statement from the North's military also reiterated that it will not recognize a disputed western maritime border with South Korea, raising fears of a possible naval conflict.
South Korea's military ordered all troops to strengthen their guard against North Korea, said an official in the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing internal policy. The official, however, said so far there was no particular movement of North Korean troops.
The western sea border has been a constant source of military tension between the two Koreas still technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
North Korea does not recognize the boundary, drawn by the United Nations at the end of the conflict, and claims the line should be redrawn farther south. South Korea has rejected the North's demand.
The disagreement led to two deadly skirmishes in the disputed waters in 1999 and 2002.
Tension on the divided peninsula has been running high since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office nearly a year ago pledging to be firm with Pyongyang.
South Korea, the U.S. and three other nations have sought to coax North Korea _ which detonated an atomic device in 2006 _ to give up its nuclear program by offering aid for disarmament. The pact has been deadlocked over how to verify North Korea's past nuclear activities.
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