South Korea extends range of cruise missile

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=135205§ionid=351020405


South Korea has reportedly developed a long-range cruise missile capable of hitting North Korean positions and plans to deploy it along the border with the North.

An unconfirmed report by a defense source said the new the ground-to-ground Hyunmu-3C missile has a range of up to 1,500 kilometers (937 miles), the state-run Yonhap news agency said on Saturday.

Under an agreement with the United States, South Korea can increase the range of its cruise missiles to counter the 1,000 ballistic missiles the North is believed to have deployed at the border — as long as their payload does not exceed 500 kilograms.

Improving upon a previous version with a range of only 1,000 kilometers, the new Hyunmu missile will enable South Korea to target nuclear or military sites in the North.

Ongoing tensions between the two Koreas — technically at war since their 1950-1953 war ended without a peace treaty — have been on the rise since a South Korean warship sank near the tense sea border in March. Forty-six South Korea sailors died in the incident.

South Korea and the United States accused North Korea of torpedoing the vessel, citing the findings of a multinational investigation into the incident.

However, Pyongyang has rejected the charges and says a July 9 statement by the UN Security Council proves its point since it does not identify North Korea as the culprit.

After the UN statement, the North reiterated its conditional willingness to return to the stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks it withdrew from last year.

After the UN statement, the North announced that it was still conditionally ready to return to the stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks it withdrew from last year.

But South Korea has demanded an apology for the attack on the ship and says it will not return to the negotiation table until those responsible are punished.

North Korea meets UN Command on Thursday

North Korea is scheduled to hold talks Thursday with the US-led United Nations Command about the sinking of a South Korean ship back in March.


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=134711§ionid=351020405


The US-led United Nations Command (UNC) says talks with North Korea over the March sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan have been reset for Thursday.

The much-anticipated meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but North Korea unexpectedly asked for a delay, just hours before it was due to begin, citing "administrative reasons."

The colonel-level talks are now scheduled to begin at 10 am Thursday at the border village of Panmunjom, according to a statement on Wednesday by the UNC, South Korean Yonhap news agency said.

The rescheduled meeting on Thursday, if held, will be the first between North Korea and the UNC since the Cheonan sank in March near the inter-Korean western maritime border, dramatically increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea and the United States accuse the communist state of torpedoing the corvette Cheonan and killing 46 sailors, an accusation Pyongyang strongly denies.

Sixteen rounds of general officer talks have been held at Panmunjom since 1998 about reducing tensions on the peninsula. The most recent took place in March 2009 at North Korea's request

North Korea offers to resume talks

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/07/201071042951838719.html


North Korea has said it is willing to return to the nuclear disarmament talks it abandoned 18 months ago, saying it will make "consistent efforts" for a peace treaty.

Pyongyang's about-turn on Saturday came after the UN Security Council condemned an attack on a South Korean warship in March that killed 46 sailors, which Seoul has blamed on the North.

The Security Council, however, did not directly state that North Korea was responsible for sinking the 1,200-ton Cheonan, prompting Sin Son Ho, North Korea ambassador to the UN, to call it "our great diplomatic victory".

The ambassador's comments were followed by a statement from North Korea's foreign ministry calling for a resumption of the talks.

"The DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] will make consistent efforts for the conclusion of a peace treaty and the denuclearization through the six-party talks conducted on equal footing," the ministry's spokesman said.

"We take note of the ... statement saying that 'the Security Council encourages the settlement of outstanding issues on the Korean Peninsula by peaceful means to resume direct dialogue and negotiation through appropriate channels'."

'Flip the page'

The disarmament talks involving North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China have been in limbo since December 2008.

But China, which had been the host of the six-way talks that began in 2003, on Saturday urged regional powers to "flip the page of the Cheonan incident" and quickly resume the talks.

"We call for an early resumption of the six-party talks and joint efforts to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," Qin Gang, the foreign ministry spokesman, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.


The US did not immediately respond to the North's offer for new talks.

"At this point we want to let North Korea absorb the fact that the international community has condemned the Cheonan incident," Mark Toner, a US state department spokesman, said.

A South Korean-led international investigation concluded in May that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine sank the Cheonan.

But North Korea has called for a new joint investigation by both Koreas and demanded that its inspectors be allowed to visit the site of the sinking near the tense Korean sea border.

Ambassador Sin again pledged that his government will "do our utmost to dig out the truth behind this incident".

The South's defense ministry, meanwhile, said there was no change to its plan to carry out a joint naval exercise with the US in the Yellow Sea, despite objections from China, Pyongyang's main ally.

South Korea's foreign ministry said it welcomed the UN's stance.


"The Security Council's statement is greatly significant as the international community condemned North Korea's attack on the Cheonan with one voice and emphasized the importance of preventing further provocations," it said.


"The government urges the North to respect the spirit of the statement, clearly accept its responsibility and apologize."