20100526 Seoul launches propaganda battle with North Korea

Seoul launches propaganda battle with North Korea

JOINT DRILLS: Washington and Seoul have announced plans to hold two military exercises off the Korean Peninsula while North Korea has threatened military action

AP, SEOUL
Wednesday, May 26, 2010, Page 1

South Korea blared propaganda broadcasts into North Korea yesterday after a six-year halt and Pyongyang said its troops were bracing for war as tensions spiked on the divided peninsula over the sinking of a warship.

One Seoul-based monitoring agency reported that North Korea’s leader ordered its 1.2 million-member military to get ready for combat after the South blamed the North for a March 26 torpedo strike that sank the warship Cheonan and killed 46 sailors.

South Korean officials could not immediately confirm the report.

The South’s restarting of psychological warfare operations — including radio broadcasts into the North and placing loudspeakers at the border to blast out propaganda — were among measures the government announced on Monday to punish Pyongyang.

A team of international investigators concluded last week that a torpedo from a North Korean submarine tore apart the Cheonan. The North flatly denies involvement and has warned such retaliation would mean war.

The North’s military claimed yesterday that dozens of South Korean navy ships violated the disputed western sea border earlier this month and threatened to take “practical” military measures in response, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

South Korea’s military had no immediate response other than to say that the North routinely makes similar accusations.

The US has thrown its full support behind Seoul’s moves and they are planning two major military exercises off the Korean Peninsula in a display of force intended to deter future aggression by the North, the White House said.

In Beijing, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she had “very productive and very detailed” discussions with Chinese officials but could not say if any progress had been made in convincing the Chinese to back UN action.

“No one is more concerned about peace and stability in this region as the Chinese,” she told reporters. “We know this is a shared responsibility, and in the days ahead we will work with the international community and our Chinese colleagues to fashion an effective, appropriate response.”

Chinese State Counselor Dai Bingguo (戴秉國), speaking at a news conference with Clinton, called for “relevant parties” to “calmly and properly handle the issue and avoid escalation of tension.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev talked with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak yesterday and said he “understands well” about the South’s moves and will try to give an “appropriate signal” to the North over the sinking, according to Lee’s office.

South Korea’s military resumed radio broadcasts airing Western music, news and comparisons between the South and North Korean political and economic situation late on Monday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The military also plans to air-drop propaganda leaflets to inform North Koreans about the ship’s sinking.