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North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri has warned of strikes against South Korea’s islands and advised residents to leave.
The Uriminzokkiri website, linked to the regime, mentioned targets including Yeonpyeong island, which was attacked by Northern forces in 2010.
Pyongyang has made a series of threats since its last nuclear test in February prompted the UN to tighten sanctions.
The US said on Friday it would refocus missile defences to its west coast to counter the North’s threats.
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said 14 more batteries would be placed in Alaska by 2017, adding to 30 already in place along the coast.
On February 12 North Korea tested a nuclear device, which is believed to be its third such test.
The UN Security Council condemned the move and tightened sanctions on the regime.
Before and after the UN announcement, Pyongyang promised reprisals for the sanctions, including a threat to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US.
North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri has warned of strikes against South Korea’s islands and advised residents to leave
North Korean media has also been vitriolic against the South.The Uriminzokkiri website stated: “Even an accidental spark by the belligerents in their war games can grow into a fire.
“And the damage for those living along the border and on the five western islands will be great.”
The threats came shortly after South Korea’s PM Chung Hong-won visited Yeonpyeong.
The US and South Korea also began military drills earlier in the week.
South Korea’s western islands are regarded as being particularly vulnerable to attack as they lie 6 miles south of the sea boundary.
In 2010, North korea bombarded Yeonpyeong with artillery shells, causing four deaths.
North Korea’s foreign policy has for decades been dominated by threats of military strikes, and bartering over its nuclear programme.
Although Pyongyang has given up parts of its nuclear programme in return for aid, it has continued to develop missiles and enrich nuclear material.
The most advanced missiles have the capacity to reach Alaska.
It is not thought to have a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
North Korea has accused the United States and its allies of attacks on its internet servers, amid tension on Korean peninsula.
KCNA news agency said the “intensive and persistent” attacks coincided with US-South Korea military drills.
Official sites such as KCNA, Air Koryo and Rodong Sinmun, the party newspaper, are reported to have been inaccessible on some occasions in recent days.
Tension has escalated in the wake of North Korea’s third nuclear test last month.
The test led to fresh UN sanctions being imposed on Pyongyang, which has responded with strong rhetoric – both to the UN move and the annual joint drills, which it bitterly opposes.
It says it has scrapped the Korean War armistice and ended non-aggression pacts with Seoul. It has also cut off a hotline that connects the two countries.
The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a treaty. South Korea says North Korea cannot unilaterally dissolve the armistice and has called on Pyongyang to tone down its language.
North Korea called the cyber attack a “cowardly and despicable act”.
“It is nobody’s secret that the US and South Korean puppet regime are massively bolstering up cyber forces in a bid to intensify the subversive activities and sabotages against the DPRK [North Korea],” KCNA said.
North Korea has accused the US and South Korea of attacks on its internet servers
However, accusations of cyber attacks on the peninsula usually flow in the opposite direction.South Korean intelligence sources say North Korea routinely attempts to access the network here, and Pyongyang is believed to have broken into Defence Ministry data at least once in the past few years, our correspondent adds.
Current internet access in North Korea is extremely limited for locals, with most people only having access to a small number of state-run pages. The wider internet is available only to the government and the military.
The United States and South Korea have begun annual military drills amid high tensions with North Korea following the UN sanctions vote.
Pyongyang has strongly condemned the exercises, threatening to scrap the armistice that ended the Korean War.
Seoul says North Korea also appears to have carried out a threat made last week to sever a cross-border hotline.
The drills come days after the UN approved new sanctions on North Korea following its nuclear test in February.
The test last month was the communist country’s third. It followed an apparently successful launch in December of a three-stage rocket, seen as a banned test of missile technology.
North Korea’s neighbors and the US fear it is working to build a nuclear warhead small enough to put on a missile, but believe it does not yet have the capabilities to do so.
The US-South Korea joint drills, which are known as “Key Resolve”, last two weeks and involve more than 13,000 troops. Another joint exercise, known as Foal Eagle, has been under way since the beginning of March.
Both exercises take place every year, usually prompting strong rhetoric from the North.
The US and South Korea have begun annual military drills amid high tensions with North Korea following the UN sanctions vote
In apparent response to the UN sanctions vote, however, North Korea has issued multiple threats, promising to abandon the Korean War armistice, pull out of non-aggression pacts with North Korea and cut cross-border links, including the hotline.
Early on Monday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said efforts to contact the North via the hotline had been unsuccessful. The hotline, installed in 1971, has been severed on five previous occasions.
North Korea also appears set to carry out its own military drills this week, South Korea says.
Late last week, South Korea’s new President, Park Geun-hye, warned that the security situation on the Korean Peninsula was “very grave”.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, because an armistice was signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean conflict, rather than a peace deal.
Tensions have boiled over on a number of occasions in the past, most recently in November 2010 when four South Koreans were killed in North Korean shelling on a border island.
North Korea’s Communist Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned on Monday that the situation was unpredictable.
“With the ceasefire agreement blown apart… no one can predict what will happen in this land from now on,” the mouthpiece said.
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China has appealed for calm on the Korean peninsula, hours after North Korea said it had ended all non-aggression pacts with South Korea and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes.
China, North Korea’s only major ally, said all sides should continue to talk and avoid “further escalation”.
Pyongyang has reacted angrily to another round of sanctions imposed by the UN over its recent nuclear test.
The sanctions restrict luxury goods imports and banking activities.
Beijing provides fuel, food and diplomatic cover to Pyongyang.
It has repeatedly voted in favor of UN sanctions imposed over the nuclear programme, but enforcement of the measures in China is patchy.
Hua Chunying of China’s foreign ministry told a news conference on Friday: “China and North Korea have normal country relations. At the same time, we also oppose North Korea’s conducting of nuclear tests.
“China calls on the relevant parties to be calm and exercise restraint and avoid taking any further action that would cause any further escalations.”
China has appealed for calm on the Korean peninsula, hours after North Korea said it had ended all non-aggression pacts with South Korea and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes
Chinese and US officials drafted the UN resolution passed on Thursday.
It contains similar measures to earlier resolutions, but the US said it had significantly strengthened the enforcement mechanisms.
In response, the North Korean regime published a message on the official KCNA news agency saying it had cancelled all non-aggression pacts with the South.
The two Koreas have signed a range of agreements over the years, including a 1991 pact on resolving disputes and avoiding military clashes.
However, analysts say the deals have had little practical effect.
The KCNA report detailed other measures including:
- cutting off the North-South hotline, saying there was “nothing to talk to the puppet group of traitors about”
- closing the main Panmunjom border crossing inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries
- pulling out of the armistice that ended the Korean War.
The North also claimed it had a right to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against its enemies.
The threat drew an angry response from South Korea’s defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok, who said that the North would become “extinct from the Earth by the will of mankind” if it took such an action.
The US state department said such “extreme rhetoric” was not unusual, but said the US was well protected.
North Korea has breached agreements before and withdrawing from them does not necessarily mean war, but it does signal a more unpredictable and unstable situation.
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North Korea has announced it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point.
The announcement follows a fresh round of UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear test last month.
Earlier, Pyongyang said it had a right to carry out a pre-emptive nuclear strike and was pulling out of the armistice which ended the Korean War.
The US said “extreme rhetoric” was not unusual for Pyongyang.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye said the current security situation was “very grave” but that she would “deal strongly” with provocation from the North.
Park Geun-hye also said she was ready to talk to Pyongyang if it “comes out on the path toward change”.
The North Korean announcement, carried on the KCNA state news agency, said the North was cancelling all non-aggression pacts with the South and closing the main Panmunjom border crossing inside the Demilitarized Zone.
It also said it was notifying the South that it was “immediately” cutting off the North-South hotline, saying there was “nothing to talk to the puppet group of traitors about”.
The hotline, installed in 1971, is intended as a means of direct communication at a time of high tension, but is also used to co-ordinate the passage of people and goods through the heavily-fortified Demilitarized Zone.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also visited front-line military units that were involved in the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010, KCNA reports.
The reports said he had urged soldiers to keep themselves ready to “annihilate the enemy” at any time.
It appears the North is trying to build a sense of crisis domestically, with a large rally staged in Pyongyang on Friday and reports of camouflage netting on public transport.
North Korea has breached agreements before and withdrawing from them does not necessarily mean war, our correspondent says, but it does signal a more unpredictable and unstable situation.
Shutting down the hotline will leave both more exposed to misunderstandings, she adds.
Seoul’s defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said that if the North were to carry out a nuclear attack on South Korea it would become “extinct from the Earth by the will of mankind”.
Kim Min-seok also warned that in response to any provocation from the North, Seoul would “immediately” turn the US-South Korean military drills currently being conducted “into a punishment mode to respond to it as planned”.
North Korea has announced it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point
The US, the main focus of North Korean ire, said it was capable of protecting itself and its allies from any attacks.
“One has to take what any government says seriously,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said of the nuclear threat.
“It is for that reason that I repeat here that we are fully capable of defending the United States. But I would also say that this kind of extreme rhetoric has not been unusual for this regime, unfortunately.”
The North Korean declaration came after the UN Security Council in New York unanimously backed Resolution 2094, imposing the fourth set of sanctions.
The resolution targets North Korean diplomats, cash transfers and access to luxury goods.
It imposes asset freezes and travel bans on three individuals and two firms linked to North Korea’s military.
South Korea’s ambassador to the UN, Kim Sook, said it was time for North Korea to “wake up from its delusion” of becoming a nuclear state.
“It can either take the right path toward a bright future and prosperity, or it can take a bad road toward further and deeper isolation and eventual self-destruction,” he said.
US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the sanctions would “further constrain” North Korea’s ability to develop its nuclear programme.
Susan Rice warned that the UN would “take further significant actions” if Pyongyang were to carry out another nuclear test.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang issued a statement supporting the UN resolution and describing it as a “moderate response”.
Qin Gang said China – North Korea’s sole ally – urged “relevant parties” to stay calm and said the main priority was to “defuse the tensions, bring down heat” and restart negotiations with Pyongyang.
Resolution 2094:
- Strongly condemns North Korea’s ongoing nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment programme
- Imposes new sanctions to block financial transactions and bulk cash transfers in support of illicit activity
- Strengthens states’ authority to inspect suspicious cargo
- Requires states to deny port access to any North Korean vessel that refuses to be inspected
- Calls on states to deny permission to any aircraft to take off, land in or overfly their territory if the aircraft is suspected of transporting prohibited items
- Enables stronger enforcement of existing sanctions by UN member states
- Sanctions new individuals and entities
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North Korea is holding large-scale military drills amid heightened tensions on the peninsula, South Korea says.
The move comes after the North Korea threatened to scrap the 60-year truce which ended the Korean War.
Later on Thursday, the UN Security Council will vote on a resolution imposing tighter sanctions on Pyongyang following its recent nuclear test.
Meanwhile, Australia has put on hold plans to reopen a North Korea embassy in its capital, Canberra.
Patrick Low, a spokesman for the Australian foreign ministry, said there was still “some merit” in having a North Korean embassy in Australia, including enabling more direct communication on human rights issues.
But said the plans had been frozen “until further notice” while Australia worked with the UN Security Council on its response to North Korea’s nuclear test.
North Korea first opened an embassy in Australia in 2002, but closed it in 2008 for financial reasons.
The nuclear test, North Korea’s third, followed its apparently successful launch in December of a three-stage rocket – a move condemned by the UN as a banned test of missile technology.
North Korea is holding large-scale military drills amid heightened tensions on the peninsula
Pyongyang claims its nuclear test involved a smaller and more powerful device – prompting concerns it could be moving closer to creating a warhead small enough to arm a missile.
A spokesman for the South Korean Defence Ministry, Kim Min-seok, said Pyongyang was “currently conducting various drills involving the army, navy and air force,” and that further exercises were being prepared, the Yonhap news agency reports.
“Given that this training can [be] extended into a provocation at any time, we are taking great interest in these activities, and are strengthening our own preparedness as well,” he said.
South Korea has previously warned it will respond to any provocation from its northern neighbor, with whom it remains technically at war after the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.
On Tuesday, North Korea’s military command said it would end that armistice on March 11 because of the threat of sanctions and the joint South Korea-US military drills, which take place annually but which Pyongyang sees as war preparation.
The UN Security Council, meanwhile, will vote on the sanctions resolutions on North Korea at 10:00 EST.
The resolution, which is expected to pass, was proposed by China and the US, and will target North Korea’s diplomats, cash transfers and access to luxury goods.
It will also impose asset freezes and travel bans on three individuals and two corporations linked to North Korea’s military.
The sanctions have been described by Washington’s UN ambassador Susan Rice as “some of the toughest sanctions” the UN had ever imposed.
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Newly elected South Korean President Park Geun-hye has warned that the country is facing “unprecedented” political deadlock which is hampering economic progress.
Park Geun-hye was sworn in as president last week, but has not yet been able to form a cabinet.
She has failed to reach agreement with the opposition over her plans for reorganizing the government.
They say plans to move the media into a new ministry would effectively put broadcasting under state control.
In a televised address, Park Geun-hye apologized for the deadlock, saying it had “caused serious delays to state affairs” and was “unprecedented since the country’s founding”.
Park Geun-hye dismissed the Democratic United Party’s claim that bringing the media into a new Ministry for Planning and Science was a move to control broadcasting.
“There is no other purpose than to strengthen the country’s competitiveness by creating a new growth engine and improving the people’s lives by creating many good jobs,” she said.
”We are in an urgent situation, and we cannot afford losing even just one minute or one second,” Park Geun-hye said, referring to South Korea’s struggling economy.
Newly elected South Korean President Park Geun-hye has warned that the country is facing “unprecedented” political deadlock which is hampering economic progress
The president also said South Korea was at “crisis level”, following the recent underground test by North Korea of a nuclear device and its launch of a three-stage rocket, both of which were seen as a breach of UN resolutions and condemned as a threat to stability in the region.
The debate between the DUP and Park Geun-hye’s Saenuri party has become uglier as it has drawn on, with many of those who oppose her plans reportedly accusing her of trying to force the bill through and behaving in an undemocratic way.
There is already a spotlight on how Park Geun-hye handles herself in power, because her father – also a former leader of the country – was a military autocrat who suppressed the pro-democracy movement.
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Park Geun-hye was sworn in as South Korea’s president promising a tough stance on national security and an era of economic revival.
Park Geun-hye, who defeated liberal rival Moon Jae-in in December’s general election, took the oath of office in front of tens of thousands of people.
North Korea’s recent nuclear test posed a “challenge to the survival” of the Korean people, she said.
Trust-building was needed to tackle the “extremely serious” security situation.
Park Geun-hye, 61, the first woman to lead South Korea, succeeds President Lee Myung-bak, of the same Saenuri Party, who stepped down as the law required after a five-year term.
She is the daughter of former military strongman Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for almost two decades.
Park Geun-hye takes office amid high tensions on the Korean peninsula in the wake of a North Korean nuclear test, on February 12.
In her inauguration speech, Park Geun-hye said she would “not tolerate any action that threatens the lives of our people and the security of our nation”.
“North Korea’s recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people, and there should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself.”
Calling on North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions, she said that in a challenging security environment South Korea could not “afford to remain where we are”.
A trust-building process was needed, she said, promising to move forward “step-by-step on the basis of credible deterrence”.
“Trust can be built through dialogue and by honoring promises that have already been made,” she said.
“It is my hope that North Korea will abide by international norms and make the right choice so that the trust-building process on the Korean Peninsula can move forward.”
Park Geun-hye was sworn in as South Korea’s president promising a tough stance on national security and an era of economic revival
North Korea’s nuclear test – its third – followed its apparently successful launch of a three-stage rocket to put a satellite into orbit in December. That launch was condemned by the US Security Council as a banned test of missile technology; diplomatic efforts to agree a response to the nuclear test are ongoing.
Ties between the two Koreas chilled considerably under Lee Myung-bak over his move to link aid to concessions on the nuclear issue. Ahead of the election Park Geun-hye had spoken out on the need for more dialogue but the recent nuclear test may make it harder for her to appear conciliatory towards Pyongyang, observers say.
On the economy, Park Geun-hye promised more focus on a “creative economy” founded in “economic democratization” that would expand beyond existing markets and sectors.
South Korea’s economic growth has slowed, the population is rapidly ageing, and demands for a fairer division of wealth are now being voiced on both sides of the political divide.
Policies would be brought in to help small and medium-sized enterprises flourish, Park Geun-hye said.
“By rooting out various unfair practices and rectifying the misguided habits of the past… we will provide active support to ensure that everyone can live up to their fullest potential,” she added, in an apparent nod to resentment towards the country’s giant “chaebol” conglomerates.
She also promised a “clean, transparent and competent government”.
“I will endeavor to shed popular distrust of government and strive to elevate the capital of trust,” she said.
Park Geun-hye:
- Daughter of former President Park Chung-hee
- Served as South Korea’s first lady after her mother was murdered by a North Korean gunman in 1974
- First elected to the national assembly in 1998
- First bid for the presidency in 2007
- Has promised to redistribute wealth, reform big conglomerates and seek greater engagement with North Korea
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South Korean experts have not detected any radioactive isotopes from North Korea’s nuclear test, hampering efforts to assess the device.
Eight samples had been analyzed but nothing found, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said.
Finding certain isotopes – xenon gases in particular – would help experts determine whether a plutonium or uranium-based device was used.
But a well-contained test could yield no radioactive isotopes, experts say.
South Korean planes and ships were sent out immediately after the test to collect samples, as was a Japanese plane.
“Two days since the North’s nuclear test, the commission has completed analyzing eight samples, but no radioactive isotopes have been discovered as of 15:00 Thursday,” the commission said.
No changes had been recorded at 122 unmanned radiation monitoring systems across the country, it added.
North Korea said on Tuesday that it had carried out an underground nuclear test, which it claimed involved a miniaturized but more powerful device.
Seismic activity triggered by the test at the Punggye-ri site in the north-east of the country was detected by several nations.
The UN Security Council has condemned the test – North Korea’s third, following tests in 2006 and 2009 – and promised action.
Xenon isotopes were detected after the first test but not after the second. Experts say finding it can be a matter of luck and has to be done quickly because it decays rapidly.
North Korea’s first two tests involved plutonium, but it is believed to have a uranium-enrichment programme.
While it has depleted its stocks of “reactor-grade” plutonium needed to make the weapons-grade variety, the country has plentiful reserves of uranium ore.
South Korean experts have not detected any radioactive isotopes from North Korea’s nuclear test, hampering efforts to assess the device
North Korea’s neighbors and the US, meanwhile, are working to coordinate a response to the test.
On Thursday South Korea’s military conducted exercises on both coasts, Yonhap news agency said, while the defence ministry unveiled a missile that it said could hit “precise targets” like “windows of a North Korean command office”.
The National Assembly also adopted a resolution condemning the nuclear test. The two Koreas are still technically at war following the armistice of 1953 that ended armed conflict on the Korean peninsula.
Amid a flurry of diplomatic activity over the issue, US President Barack Obama spoke on the phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for about 20 minutes, according to Kyodo news agency.
“They pledged to work closely together to seek significant action at the United Nations Security Council and to co-operate on measures aimed at impeding North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes,” the White House said in a statement.
The Australian government, meanwhile, has also decided to postpone a visit by North Korean diplomats exploring the possibility of reopening an embassy in the capital, Canberra, this weekend, because of the test.
“We postponed the arrival of North Korean diplomats in Australia as a gesture following this detonation,” Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said.
Bob Carr, however, added that there are still plans to re-establish the embassy, saying that “there’s value in having a North Korean diplomatic presence here”.
North Korea closed its embassy there in 2008 due to financial issues.
South Korea has launched KSLV-1 rocket in its third attempt to place a satellite into space.
Live television footage showed the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) blasting off from the Naro Space Center at 16:00.
Shortly after, officials said the launch appeared to have been a success.
The operation comes weeks after North Korea used its own three-stage rocket to place a satellite into orbit, sparking international criticism.
South Korea’s 140-tonne rocket, known as Naro, was partly built domestically and partly in Russia, which has said it will partner with Seoul for three attempts.
Previous launch attempts in 2009 and 2010 failed, and this attempt has been postponed twice for technical reasons.
But officials said Wednesday’s launch from the site 480 km (298 miles) south of Seoul had gone as planned, Yonhap news agency reports, and that the rocket had reached its target altitude and deployed its satellite.
“The launch of the rocket itself succeeded,” an official told Yonhap. But he said it was not yet possible to determine whether the satellite was in its correct orbit.
South Korea has launched KSLV-1 rocket in its third attempt to place a satellite into space
The satellite, called Science and Technology Satellite-2C, is designed to collect climate data. It is expected to make contact with its ground station at 05:00 on Thursday, at which point its operators will be able to determine whether it is in the right place and functioning properly.
Two warships with advanced radar equipment have been deployed to track the operation, says Yonhap.
South Korea does already have satellites in space, but they were launched from other countries.
On its first attempt to carry out a launch on its own soil, in 2009, the satellite failed to detach from the rocket in orbit. In 2010, the rocket exploded seconds after take-off.
Pressure for success has increased since North Korea launched a rocket that placed a satellite in orbit on December 12. It followed the launch by announcing plans for a “high-level nuclear test” and more long-range rocket launches.
The UN said the North Korean launch constituted a banned test of missile technology and voted to extend sanctions against Pyongyang. There have been international calls for Pyongyang not to carry out the nuclear test.
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North Korea has issued another warning, a day after announcing plans for a third nuclear test.
In a statement, Pyongyang pledged “physical counter-measures” against South Korea if it participated in the UN sanctions regime.
The threat came 24 hours after North Korea said it would proceed with a “high-level” nuclear test in a move aimed at “arch-enemy” the US.
The White House condemned the move, labelling it “needlessly provocative”.
North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests in the past, in 2006 and 2009. It gave no time-frame for its third test.
Its announcement followed the adoption by the UN Security Council of a resolution condemning North Korea’s recent rocket launch and extending sanctions.
North Korea says its rocket launch was for the sole purpose of putting a satellite into orbit; the US and North Korea’s neighbors say it was a test of long-range missile technology banned under UN resolutions.
The second warning in two days came in a statement from the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, carried by KCNA news agency.
North Korea pledged physical counter-measures against South Korea if it participated in the UN sanctions regime
“If the puppet group of traitors takes a direct part in the UN <<sanctions>>, the DPRK [North Korea] will take strong physical counter-measures against it,” it said, referring to the South Korean leadership.
“<<Sanctions>> mean a war and a declaration of war against us.”
The UN resolution, passed on Tuesday, expanded existing sanctions against Pyongyang that were imposed after its previous nuclear tests and rocket launches.
Washington has also expanded its own sanctions against North Korea, with targets including a Hong Kong-based trading company and two North Korean bank officials based in Beijing.
On Thursday, it spoke out against a third nuclear test.
“Further provocations would only increase Pyongyang’s isolation, and its continued focus on its nuclear and missile programme is doing nothing to help the North Korean people,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
Beijing has called for dialogue, urging all parties to act with restraint and “look at the long-term interest”.
But an editorial in China’s state-run Global Times appeared to hint at exasperation.
“If North Korea engages in further nuclear tests, China will not hesitate to reduce its assistance,” the editorial said.
Both North Korea’s previous nuclear tests followed long-range rocket launches.
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South Korea has decided to cut its growth forecast for this year and for 2013, underlining the effect of a slowdown in its key export markets on its growth.
The finance ministry has forecast a growth of 3% for 2013, down from its earlier projection of 4.3%.
Meanwhile, the growth forecast for 2012 was lowered to 2.1% from 3.3%.
South Korea’s exports, which account for almost half of its overall economy, have been hit by slowing demand from markets such as the US and eurozone.
“Growth next year will be better than this year, although there are significant downside risks,” said the finance ministry’s Choi Sang-mok.
“Nevertheless, the strength of the recovery won’t be strong enough for the economy to catch up to its potential growth rate.”
South Korea has decided to cut its growth forecast for this year and for 2013, underlining the effect of a slowdown in its key export markets on its growth
The sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone has hurt demand for South Korean exports from the region.
Meanwhile, the economic recovery in the US – another key market for its exports – has also remained fragile and consumer demand there has not picked up drastically.
The slowdown in demand for exports has hurt growth in Asia’s fourth largest economy.
South Korea’s economy grew at its slowest pace in three years in the July to September quarter, expanding at an annual rate of 1.6%.
Prompted by slowing demand for exports, policymakers have taken some steps to try and spur domestic consumption.
In September it announced a $5.2 billion stimulus package, which included tax breaks on personal incomes and purchases of homes and cars.
The Bank of Korea has also cut interest rates twice in the past few months to try and ease the burden of businesses and households.
On Thursday, the central bank said it would continue to take measures to spur growth to ensure the economy’s “growth potential is not eroded due to its continued low growth”.
Church groups in South Korea have illuminated a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea for the first time in two years.
The event has been banned since 2010 by the South Korean government due to concerns it could escalate tensions between the two countries.
The message at the top reads “peace in the whole world”, but a number of local residents are said to fear it will spark retaliation from the North.
Last year, North Korea warned of “unexpected consequences” if the tower was lit.
Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it allowed Christian groups to light the massive steel tower Saturday. It’s to stay lit until January 2.
Church groups in South Korea have illuminated a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea for the first time in two years
Pyongyang views the tower as propaganda warfare, though it has not yet responded to this year’s lighting.
The lighting came 10 days after North Korea placed a satellite into orbit aboard a long-range rocket. South Korea and the U.S. say the launch was a test of banned missile technology.
The tree wasn’t lit last year after officials asked Christians to refrain from doing so to avoid tension following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last December.
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According to South Korean officials, North Korea’s recent rocket launch shows it has the ability to fire a rocket more than 10,000 km (6,200 miles).
The estimate, which would potentially put the Western US in range, was based on an analysis of rocket debris.
However, there was no confirmation that the North had the re-entry technology needed to deliver a missile.
Experts believe North Korea is also years away from gaining the ability to mount a nuclear bomb on a missile.
North Korea launched the Unha-3 rocket on December 12, in defiance of sanctions and international warnings.
It was the first time the North had made successful use of a three-stage rocket to put a satellite into orbit, and observers said it appeared to mark a step towards fielding an intercontinental range ballistic missile.
“As a result of analyzing the material of Unha-3 [North Korea’s rocket], we judged North Korea had secured a range of more than 10,000km in case the warhead is 500-600kg,” a South Korean defence ministry official told journalists.
The official said the type of oxidizer container that was found from the first stage of the rocket launch would rarely be used by countries with advanced space technology.
“Welding was crude, done manually,” the official said.
North Korea’s recent rocket launch shows it has the ability to fire a rocket more than 6,200 miles
South Korea would not be able to tell whether the North had the technology to achieve re-entry until debris from the second and third stages of the rocket launch was analyzed, the defence ministry said.
“As the additional pieces are salvaged, we will be able to look deeper into the function and structure of North Korea’s long-range rocket,” an official was quoted as saying by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Experts believe many more rocket and nuclear tests will be necessary before North Korea can boast a credible delivery system.
North Korea insists the rocket it launched is part of a civilian space programme.
The North has been happy declare itself a nuclear power and it frequently threatens neighboring countries, and the US, with massive retaliation for perceived slights.
The UN Security Council condemned this month’s rocket launch.
It said it violated two UN resolutions banning Pyongyang from missile tests, passed after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
The rocket was celebrated extravagantly in North Korea, with a mass rally held in the capital, Pyongyang.
The North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, called for the development and launching of “a variety of more working satellites” and “carrier rockets of bigger capacity” at a banquet to mark the launch on Friday, North Korean state media reported.
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South Korea’s new elected President Park Geun-hye spoke of a “grave” security challenge from North Korea but called for “trust-based dialogue”.
Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party candidate, defeated her liberal rival Moon Jae-in in Wednesday’s election.
Speaking after a visit to honor late leaders, she pledged again to “open a new era” on the Korean Peninsula.
The North has not yet commented on her victory, but earlier labeled the Saenuri Party “maniacs”.
A dispatch from state media outlet KCNA, released on Wednesday, accused the party of escalating tension on the peninsula during President Lee Myung-bak’s time in office.
“All facts prove that the Saenuri Party is a group of traitors who stoop to any infamy to realize its ambition to seize power,” the story said.
The North launched a rocket that put a satellite into orbit last week, a move condemned by the international community as a banned test of missile technology.
Park Geun-hye, daughter of former military strongman Park Chung-hee, will become South Korea’s first female president.
President Barack Obama congratulated her, calling South Korea “a lynchpin” of security in Asia.
“Our two nations share a global partnership with deep economic, security and people-to-people ties,” Barack Obama said in a statement.
South Korea’s new elected President Park Geun-hye spoke of a grave security challenge from North Korea but called for trust-based dialogue
The election race saw high turnout, with 75.8% of the electorate casting their ballots. With more than 99% of the vote counted, Park Geun-hye had won 51.6% of the vote to Moon Jae-in’s 48%.
Economic issues including welfare spending, job creation and inequality had dominated campaigning, while the national security focus fell on North Korea.
“The launch of North Korea’s long-range missile symbolically showed how grave the security situation facing us is,” Park Geun-hye said after a visit to the National Cemetery to pay her respects to former leaders.
“I will keep the promise I made to you to open a new era on the Korean peninsula, based on strong security and trust-based diplomacy.”
Relations with North Korea under Lee Myung-bak – who linked the provision of aid to progress on denuclearization – have been poor.
Park Geun-hye has promised greater engagement than her predecessor and the possible resumption of aid, but also a robust defence.
South Korea is also one of several nations currently seeking a strong response to North Korea’s recent rocket launch in the UN Security Council.
On the economy, the president-elect said she would work “to make the society share economic benefits without anybody isolated from the fruits of the economic growth”.
Economic growth has fallen to about 2% after several decades in which it averaged 5.5%.
And in an apparent nod to tensions with Japan over a territorial dispute and historical issues, she said she would work for ” greater reconciliation, co-operation and peace in North East Asia based on correct perception of history”.
Park Geun-hye’s defeated rival, former human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in, also offered his congratulations, saying he accepted the outcome of the polls.
“I feel so sorry and guilty that I have failed to accomplish my historic mission to open a new era of politics,” he said.
Park geun-hye’s campaign was both bolstered and dogged by the legacy of her father, who built South Korea’s economy while crushing dissent.
With the country having split almost equally along party lines, Park Geun-hye will have to work hard to improve relations with her detractors.
Who is Park Geun-hye?
- Daughter of former President Park Chung-hee
- Served as South Korea’s first lady after her mother was murdered by a North Korean gunman in 1974
- First elected to the national assembly in 1998; first bid for the presidency in 2007
- Has promised to redistribute wealth, reform big conglomerates and seek greater engagement with North Korea
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Park Geun-hye, the daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee, defeated her liberal rival Moon Jae-in in South Korea’s presidential election.
Park Geun-hye will be South Korea’s first female leader.
Votes are still being counted, but Moon Jae-in has admitted defeat. Turnout was high in a poll dominated by economic and social welfare issues.
Park Geun-hye, 60, will replace her party colleague Lee Myung-bak.
He is stepping down as the law requires after his five-year term.
Combined figures from the networks released after polls closed gave Park Geun-hye 50.1% of the vote over Moon Jae-in’s 48.9%.
“This is a victory brought by the people’s hope for overcoming crisis and economic recovery,” she told supporters in the capital Seoul.
Park Geun-hye, the daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee, defeated her liberal rival Moon Jae-in in South Korea’s presidential election
Economic growth has fallen to about 2% after several decades in which it averaged 5.5%.
With the country having split almost equally along party lines, Park Geun-hye will have to work hard to improve relations with her detractors.
From the moment polls opened at 06:00 on Wednesday, millions of South Koreans queued to cast their ballots despite freezing temperatures.
Park Geun-hye’s supporters, wearing red party scarves, cheered as poll figures emerged.
Both bolstered and dogged by the legacy of her father, who built South Korea’s economy while crushing dissent, she apologized in September for human rights abuses under his administration.
Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party is a former human rights lawyer who served under former President Roh Moo-hyun. He was briefly jailed by Park Geun-hye’s father in the 1970s.
Both candidates put forward broadly similar policies, promising to boost social welfare spending, close the gap between the rich and poor and rein in the family-run giant conglomerates known as chaebol.
The issue of North Korea did not feature heavily in the campaign despite its recent rocket launch.
Both candidates promised more engagement with Pyongyang – though in Park Geun-hye’s case, more cautiously than her rival.
Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated during Lee Myung-bak’s term.
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Millions of South Koreans have cast ballots in a presidential election seen as too close to call.
Park Geun-hye of the governing Saenuri party is looking to make history as South Korea’s first female president.
But she faces a tough challenge from Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party, who has been steadily eroding her lead in the polls.
Whoever wins will replace President Lee Myung-bak, who is stepping down, as the law requires, after his five-year term.
Economic issues including welfare provision and job creation have dominated campaigning.
Polls opened at 06:00 and closed 12 hours later. Three television stations were expected to release joint exit polls shortly after voting closed, with formal results expected early on Thursday.
Turn-out at 16:00 – with two hours of polling to go – was 65.2%, already past the final turn-out figure of 63% in the 2007 election, Yonhap news agency said.
A national holiday has been declared so people can cast their ballots.
“Though it’s cold today, I hope you will take part in the voting and open up a new era that every one of you has yearned for,” Park Geun-hye said after voting in Seoul.
Park Geun-hye of the governing Saenuri party is looking to make history as South Korea’s first female president
Park Geun-hye is the daughter of former military ruler General Park Chung-hee, a polarizing figure credited with transforming South Korea into an economic success story during his 1961-1979 rule, but accused of ruthlessly crushing dissent.
Both Park Geun-hye’s parents were assassinated – her mother in 1974 by a pro-North Korea gunman and her father in 1979 by his own spy chief.
Park Geun-hye, 60, who in September apologized for human rights abuses during her father’s era, said on Tuesday she would be “a president of the people’s livelihoods, who thinks only about the people”.
“I will restore the broken middle class and open an era in which the middle class make up 70% of the population,” she said in a news conference at her party’s headquarters in Seoul.
Moon Jae-in, a former human rights lawyer, was once jailed for protesting against General Park’s regime.
He was a chief of staff to Lee Myung-bak’s predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, who killed himself in 2009 while under investigation for corruption.
In his news conference, Moon Jae-in pointed to the current corruption and incompetency allegations surrounding Park Geun-hye’s own party.
“This overall crisis… will not be resolved by replacing the representative player. We must change the entire team,” the 59-year-old said.
Casting his ballot on Wednesday, he appealed for voters to turn out.
“If you have been unsatisfied over the last five years, please change the world with your votes,” he said.
For all their differences, the two candidates have put forward remarkably similar policies.
They have both promised to boost social welfare spending, close the gap between the rich and poor and rein in the country’s family-run giant conglomerates, known as chaebol.
On the issue of North Korea, which has not featured heavily in the campaign despite its recent rocket launch, both candidates have promised more engagement with Pyongyang – though, in Park Geun-hye’s case, more cautiously than her rival.
The electorate appears to be more engaged than usual, with one recent poll suggested more than 80% of voters are planning to cast their ballots
South Korea uses a first-past-the-post system, and so the candidate with the most votes will become president.
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A South Korean court has jailed a North Korean spy reportedly ordered to attack the eldest son of late leader Kim Jong-il, officials say.
The unidentified man, charged with falsely defecting so as to gather information, was jailed for four years.
The man had spent a decade in China tracking down North Korean defectors before coming to the South, the court said.
South Korean media also said he had admitted trying to organise a hit-and-run accident targeting Kim Jong-nam.
The South Korean court said that the 50-year-old man – who has a son who still lives in the North – became a spy after he was threatened by North Korea’s spy agency.
He defected to South Korea this year, citing poverty, but later told investigators that he was a spy.
Local media reports citing prosecutors say the man also admitted he had been told by North Korean authorities to attack Kim Jong-nam.
He reportedly went as far as hiring a taxi driver to run Kim Jong-nam over in 2010, but the plot went no further.
Kim Jong-nam is thought to have fallen out of favor with Kim Jong-il in 2001 after he was caught trying to sneak into Japan using a false passport
Kim Jong-nam is thought to have fallen out of favor with Kim Jong-il in 2001 after he was caught trying to sneak into Japan using a false passport. He told officials that he was planning to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Bypassed in favor of his youngest half-brother for succession, the eldest son of Kim Jong-il has maintained a low profile overseas. He was quoted by Japanese media in 2011 as saying he opposed ”dynastic succession”.
He was thought to have been living in Macau but media reports indicate he may have moved to Singapore.
The court said that it had taken the spy’s co-operation into consideration. But it said “stern punishment” was required given the extent to which he could have “greatly compromised the country”.
The court added that he “seriously violated human rights of North Korean defectors”, as he was trying to get them to return to their country.
Adam Victor, a New York businessman, claims that Jill Kelley was so eager to close a billion-dollar business deal that the Florida socialite stood up her own husband on their anniversary.
Jill Kelley reportedly met Adam Victor at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Shortly after they were introduced by mutual friend Don Phillips, the two began to talk business.
Adam Victor is the president and CEO of TransGas Development Systems, a New York-based firm dedicated to the pursuit of clean energy.
Jill Kelley claimed that in her capacity as honorary consul for South Korea, she could help Adam Victor set up a coal plant there.
Emails between Jill Kelley and Adam Victor exclusively obtained by ABC News revealed how Kelley doggedly pursued the deal.
At one point, Jill Kelley emailed Adam Victor: “Adam, I’m on my flight. It was wonderful to meet with you. I was quite impressed learning about the project to say the least.
“I’m emailing around some contacts, calling in favors, and totally anxious to take this to the next step. It has HUGE potential. It just needs a catalyst like me. :-)”
Adam Victor, a New York businessman, claims that Jill Kelley was so eager to close a billion-dollar business deal that the Florida socialite stood up her own husband on their anniversary
While wheeling and dealing with Adam Victor, Don Phillips claimed to ABC that Jill Kelley wasn’t interested in moving forward, telling him: “As a result of my personal investigations and business intelligence this is just not going anywhere, Don, and you just don’t want to associate with [Victor].”
But Jill Kelley soon emailed one of Adam Victor’s employee, saying she was blowing off her husband Scott on their anniversary so that she could speak more about the South Korea deal.
The email shown to the network read: “[M]y husband is in agreement with me canceling our 13th Anniversary dinner plans. Please call me.”
But the deal apparently collapsed when Jill Kelley informed Adam Victor of the commission she was hoping to take in for helping to complete the deal – a whopping 2%, or $80 million.
Adam Victor’s next email informed Jill Kelley: “The suggested fee you have asked for is so out of market, I have no way of working out any acceptable deal with you. You should not contact anyone on our behalf.”
He said he was told by Jill Kelley that David Petraeus had set her up as an honorary consul to South Korea, a claim refuted by the general’s longtime spokesman, retired Army Col Steve Boylan.
Don Phillips, Jill Kelley’s friend, also told ABC that she has never sought any benefits from her friendship with the disgraced general.
Jill Kelley is the woman who blew the lid off the Petraeus affair and ensuing scandal after she received threatening emails from the generals mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell.
It was revealed on Tuesday that the Florida socialite took multiple flights aboard military aircraft on the taxpayers’ dime.
Jill Kelley, 37, even reportedly flew to Washington, DC, with General John Allen – the military commander she is said to have exchanged tens of thousands of emails with while he was in Afghanistan.
It is not known why Jill Kelley flew to Washington DC with John Allen but it has emerged that in recent months she has had three visits to the White House.
The mother of three from Tampa has so far refused to comment publicly on her role in the scandal that ended the career of CIA Director David Petraeus and put the distinguished career of General John Allen in jeopardy.
The commander of the coalition forces in Afghanistan is under investigation for “flirty” emails said to number as many as 30,000 that he exchanged with Jill Kelley.
An investigation by 10 News Tampa has revealed that Jill Kelley, whose complaint over threatening emails revealed David Petraeus’ affair, has enjoyed several trips on military planes.
Jill Kelley, the woman at the center of the David Petraeus sex scandal, invoked her honorary diplomatic status on November 11 when she called to complain about reporters on her property.
“I’m an honorary consul general, so I have inviolability, so they should not be able to cross my property,” she told the 911 operator.
“I don’t know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well, because that’s against the law to cross my property because, you know, it’s inviolable.”
Jill Kelley was a frequent visitor to the sprawling military base. The doctor’s wife courted four star generals and other senior military figures as an unpaid liaison officer – describing herself as an “honorary consul” of South Korea – a position she achieved one official said “last August thanks to her good connections and network”.
She held lavish parties at her $1.3million home overlooking Tampa Bay where the General’s and their wives were feted.
In fact, her position of honorary consul, which she has proudly displayed on her Mercedes’ license plate, is symbolic and has no official duties.
Jill Kelley, the woman at the center of the David Petraeus sex scandal, invoked her honorary diplomatic status on November 11 when she called to complain about reporters on her property
“She does not work as a real consul,” the anonymous official said to Foreign Policy Magazine.
He added: “Jill Kelley helped to get support for [the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement] and she arranged meetings between the ROK Ambassador to Washington and local businessmen when the ROK Ambassador visited the Tampa area.”
Jill Kelley is a close friend of the Petraeus family, and photographs circulating in the media show the dark-haired woman at parties with David Petraeus and his wife Holly.
She also met General John Allen at Central Command, and now investigators are looking at 20,000-plus pages of documents and emails between Jill Kelley and Allen.
South Korea has shut down two nuclear reactors after it was revealed that some parts used had not been properly vetted, an official says.
Knowledge Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo said these were “non-core” parts and were not a safety threat.
They included fuses, cooling fans and power switches that did not have the required nuclear industry certificates.
The shutdown means there could be “unprecedented” power shortages in the next few months, Hong Suk-woo said.
The more than 5,000 parts could be used in other industries but needed international certification for nuclear power plant usage, he said.
Almost all the parts were used at the Yeonggwang Nuclear Power Plant, in the south-west, where the two reactors were shut down.
“Comprehensive safety check-ups are necessary at these two reactors where the uncertified parts were used extensively,” the minister said.
“It’s inevitable that we will experience unprecedented power shortage during the coming winter with the two reactors shut.”
He said the parts, worth 820 million won ($750,000), had been sourced from eight suppliers since 2003.
South Korea’s 23 nuclear reactors, which supply 35% of the country’s electricity, have experienced a series of malfunctions over the past few months.
While none have posed a public risk, opposition to the government’s bid to vastly expand its nuclear industry has been growing.
South Korean activists have sent propaganda leaflets to North Korea, a week after Pyongyang threatened military action over a similar launch.
The group floated 50,000 leaflets in several balloons from a park near the border town of Paju, watched by a heavy police presence.
Local residents trying to stop the move got into minor scuffles with activists.
Authorities prevented a similar launch last week after North Korea said it would respond with a “military strike”.
Residents in the area concerned that Pyongyang would carry out its threat gathered to protest against the release of the balloons.
“Paju residents can’t live properly due to worries. They come here way too frequently,” a local shop owner, Kim Bok-nam, told Reuters news agency.
”Last time the North warned to directly strike here, so we came to protest since we can’t tolerate it anymore.”
One of the activists, Choi Woo-won, dismissed the North’s warning as “empty threats”.
Activists – some of whom are defectors from North Korea – have sent leaflets on many past occasions. North Korea condemns the move but specific threats are rare.
Last week, however, Pyongyang threatened to fire on South Korean territory if activists went ahead with a launch.
South Korean authorities prevented the launch from taking place, as the military went into a state of alert and hundreds of residents were evacuated.
Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula since the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March 2010 which Seoul blamed on Pyongyang, and the shelling of a border island eight months later.
North and South Korea remain technically at war following the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice. But North Korea has not fired on the Southern mainland since the end of the war.
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North Korea says it has missiles that can hit the United States mainland, in a statement two days after South Korea unveiled a missile deal with the US.
The North Korean statement said US bases in “Japan, Guam and the US mainland” were within its “scope of strike”.
It follows Seoul’s announcement on Sunday that it would almost triple the range of its own missile system.
Pyongyang is thought to be working on a long-range missile, but two recent rocket tests ended in failure.
North Korea’s neighbors said the failed rocket launches – in April 2009 and April 2012 – were tests related to the development of the long-range Taepodong-2 missile system.
The system, which analysts believe is intended to put the US mainland within striking range, has not yet been tested successfully.
North Korea routinely issues strong rhetoric against Seoul and Washington.
But the Communist state does possess an array of short- and medium-range missiles, as well as artillery pointed towards South Korea.
The statement, carried by state-run KCNA news agency and attributed to North Korea’s National Defence Commission, said Pyongyang would match any enemy “nuclear for nuclear, missile for missile”.
It added that the missile deal between the US and South Korea was “another conspiracy of the master and the stooge to push the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the extreme… and ignite a war”.
On Sunday, South Korea announced it had reached an agreement with the US on extending the range of its ballistic missiles.
Under a previous security deal with the US, it had been restricted to missiles with a range of 300 km (186 miles). The new deal extends that range to 800 km.
National Security Adviser Chun Yung-woo said the aim was to curb “military provocations by North Korea”.
The two Koreas remain technically at war following the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice.
The US has more than 28,000 troops in South Korea and provides security guarantees for its ally.
South Korea has announced a deal with the US to almost triple the range of its ballistic missile system, saying this will counter the threat from North Korea.
The whole of the North, along with parts of China and Japan, will be within South Korea’s new 800 km range.
South Korea had been restricted to missiles with a range of 300 km under a previous security deal.
It was revised after North Korea tested a long-range rocket launch in April.
The US has more than 28,000 troops in South Korea and provides security guarantees for its ally.
A spokeswoman for President Lee Myung-bak said there was no imminent change of strategy, but the new agreement was a political symbol of the strong alliance with the US and a deterrent to Pyongyang.
“The biggest purpose of the revision is curbing military provocations by North Korea,” said another official, National Security Adviser Chun Yung-woo.
Under a 2001 accord, South Korea had been prevented from developing and deploying ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 km (186 miles) because of concerns this could trigger a regional arms race.
The new deal puts North Korean military facilities which were previously out of range within reach, as well as parts of China and Japan.
It will also allow South Korea to triple the payload from 500 kg for missiles over shorter distances.
Correspondents say Seoul has for a long time argued for an extension of the range limit, but this took on greater urgency earlier this year.
In April, North Korea conducted a failed long-range rocket launch that it said was an attempt to put a satellite into orbit.
Critics said the launch was a disguised test of missile technology, banned under UN resolutions.
Three weeks ago, the US and Japan agreed to set up a second missile defence system on Japanese soil in response to the North Korean threat.
A North Korean soldier has defected to South Korea across the two countries’ heavily armed border, South Korean officials have said.
The soldier said he shot dead two officers before crossing over just after noon on Saturday.
Correspondents say defections across the land border are rare, with the last soldier fleeing in October 2008.
More than 24,000 North Koreans have gone to the South in the last 60 years, mostly via China or SE Asia.
The defence ministry official said the soldier was in protective custody and was still being interrogated.
There has been no confirmation of the North Korean casualties and no unusual activity observed on the North Korean side of the border.
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