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N. Korea says it is ready to go to ‘all-out war’

August 21, 2015
Kim Jong-un poses with North Korean military. (KCNA/Yonhap)

Kim Jong-un poses with North Korean military. (KCNA/Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — North Korea warned Saturday that it is prepared to go to an “all-out war” to defend itself, further heightening tensions with South Korea in the wake of an exchange of artillery fire across their border.

The North’s foreign ministry issued the warning in a statement carried by the country’s official Korean Central News Agency, claiming once again that the country did not provoke Thursday’s exchange of fire with South Korea and accusing Seoul of fabricating accusations against it.

“Our military and people are prepared to risk an all-out war not just to simply respond or retalitate, but to defend the system our people chose with our lives,” the statement said, claiming that the situation is on the verge of war.

South Korea says its radar system detected the North firing a shell toward a South Korean front-line military unit in Yeoncheon, northwest of Seoul Thursday before firing several more shells at the southern side of the demilitarized zone near the area.

South Korea fired back dozens of rounds.

But the North has rejected the accusations, accusing the South of using what it calls a “nonexistent pretext” to attack it.

One Comment

  1. paul martin

    August 21, 2015 at 6:49 PM

    South Korea is right not to allow NK to intimidate it, but the ultimate outcome if NK decides to attack in force, for both sides is NOT a pleasant thought!

    As a foreign correspondent who has covered Korea for a long time for the World’s media I am convinced that Kim Jong Un does NOT seek genuine peace and is determined to continue provoking SEoul as we recently saw with that horrible land mine incident.

    There is NO ideal solution to these perpetual antagonisms from Pyongyang, but loudspeakers certainly will NOT help ease the situation.
    Koreas and the DMZ zone are a unique Asian problem, we have a prosperous South Korea on one side and a Stalinist style dictatorship led by an unstable lunatic warmonger on the other, nothing has worked in the past, it’s like facing off a rotweiller against a pitbull there can be NO clear, outright winners if NK takes the unthinkable decision of all out war !

    Reply