Korea | Pyongyang calls US aircraft carrier dispatch outrageous

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center, foreground)

Eric Talmadge, Pyongyang

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orth Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the U.S. decision to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.

The statement from Pyongyang comes as tensions on the divided peninsula are high because of U.S.-South Korea war games now underway and recent ballistic missile launches by the North. Pyongyang sees the annual maneuvers as a dress rehearsal for invasion, while the North’s missile launches violate U.N. resolutions.

“We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions,” a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency late Monday.

The statement comes just after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said U.S. missile strikes against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical weapon attack carry a message for any nation operating outside of international norms.

He didn’t specify North Korea, but the context was clear enough.

Kim Jong Un’s regime “has made significant advancements in delivery systems, and that is what concerns us the most,” Tillerson said. When asked what message North Korea should take from the U.S. strike on Syria last week, he said: “If you become a threat to others, at some point a response is likely to be undertaken.”

Tillerson said the U.S. wasn’t interested in “regime change” in North Korea.

While the U.S. wants a denuclearized Korean peninsula, it has “no objective to change the regime in North Korea,” he said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” program. The country must stop all weapons testing before further diplomatic talks can take place, the senior U.S. official added.

“If you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point a response is likely to be undertaken,” Tillerson told ABC’s “This Week.”

The USS Carl Vinson at Busan port, South Korea, last month

“This goes to prove that the U.S. reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario,” the North’s statement said. “If the U.S. dares opt for a military action, crying out for ‘preemptive attack’ and ‘removal of the headquarters,’ the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.”

North Korea’s formal name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang has long claimed the U.S. is preparing some kind of assault against it and justifies its nuclear weapons as defensive in nature.

North Korea conducted another ballistic missile test last week, shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping met at a summit in Florida.

Kim has said previously his regime was close to developing a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to North America, and has threatened to conduct preemptive strikes on the U.S. and its allies if it believed an attack was imminent.

Pyongyang resident Kim Sung Chol told Associated Press Television, “We love peace, but we are never going to beg for it. If anyone tries to provoke us, we will defend ourselves in the strongest way with our own power, and we will keep on doing things our way.”

South Korea has warned that its northern neighbor may conduct a nuclear test or another missile launch in the coming days to mark symbolic dates in the country’s history. Yesterday marked five years since Kim assumed the post of Workers’ Party leader, and Saturday is the 105th anniversary of the birth of his grandfather, North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung.

U.S. Navy ships are a common presence in the Korean region and are in part a show of force. On Saturday night, the Pentagon said a Navy carrier strike group was moving toward the western Pacific Ocean to provide more of a physical presence in the region.

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, described the decision to send the carrier group as “prudent.” MDT/Agencies

Asian shares mostly lower

Shares were mostly lower yesterday in Asia amid growing wariness over tensions with North Korea. A stronger yen pulled Japanese shares lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index slipped 0.5 percent to 18,708.49 as Toshiba and other big manufacturers lost ground. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank 0.8 percent to 24,063.28, the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.5 percent to 3,252.67 and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6 percent to 2,119.86. Shares in Southeast Asia were mixed. “The markedly unusual move had been explained as a reaction towards North Korea’s provocations and has fueled concerns that further tensions may emerge,” Jingyi Pan of analyst IG said in a commentary. “Certainly with the hardening of the stance by the new U.S. leader, the concern could very much be justified.”

South’s election candidate open to talks with Kim Jong Un

South Korean presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in told a local newspaper that he would deal with North Korea’s nuclear ambitions through direct talks with dictator Kim Jong Un.

Moon – one of two top candidates for the May 9 election – told the Korea Herald newspaper that South Korea must negotiate with Kim to resolve the nuclear issue. South Korea should play a greater role since it has the most at stake, the newspaper reported him as saying.

“I feel that we should take the lead,” Moon said in the interview. “At present, we are spectators who hope for the U.S.-China talks to go well,” he said. He expressed regret that U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping didn’t reach an agreement on North Korea at last week’s summit.

South Korea’s Acting President Hwang Kyo-
ahn has asked military and diplomatic officials to strengthen monitoring for signs of any provocations by North Korea, he said yesterday at a cabinet meeting.

Moon is the nominee for the left-leaning Democratic Party of Korea, which has traditionally favored a softer approach toward North Korea. His rivals in the vote to choose a successor to ousted former President Park Geun-hye have taken more hard-line stances toward Kim’s regime.

Moon has said that he would review a decision to allow the U.S. to deploy a missile shield in South Korea over China’s objections. His main rival, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party, has expressed support for the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad.

In the interview, Moon said he would address Thaad first if he took power. “I will concentrate on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, which is the root of matters surrounding Thaad,” he said. MDT/Bloomberg