Asia-Pacific News

US, South Korea raise surveillance level over North Korea

May 28, 2009, 4:30 GMT

Seoul - South Korea and the United States Thursday ramped up their surveillance over North Korea, as Pyongyang nullified its truce with Seoul and threatened war. A South Korean soldier stands guard and keep watch near the Demilitarized zone in Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea, 28 May 2009. The armed forces of South Korea and the U.S. raised their surveillance over North Korea to the second highest level on 28 May as the communist state went ahead with its second nuclear test and threatened war, an official said. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

A South Korean soldier stands guard and keep watch near the Demilitarized zone in Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea, 28 May 2009. The armed forces of South Korea and the U.S. raised their surveillance over North Korea to the second highest level on 28 May as the communist state went ahead with its second nuclear test and threatened war, an official said. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUNThe armed forces of both countries upped surveillance to the penultimate level of a five-state surveillance scale for the first time since North Korea's first nuclear test in October 2006, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, quoting a Defence Ministry official. 'Additional intelligence assets, including personnel, will be deployed while reconnaissance operations over North Korea will increase,' defence spokesman Won Tae Jae said. He added that the five-stage combat alert remained locked at level four. North Korea on Monday tested a nuclear device and on Wednesday nixed a truce with South Korea, saying it felt no longer bound by the armistice that followed the Korean War (1950-53). The Stalinist state also threatened it could no longer guarantee the safety of US and South Korean vessels at the western inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea. The US-led United Nations Command in South Korea meanwhile rejected Pyongyang's claim it is no longer bound by the truce. 'The armistice remains in force and is binding on all signatories, including North Korea,' it said in a statement. 'The armistice has served as the legal basis for the ceasefire in Korea for over 55 years. ... The UN Command will adhere to the terms of the armistice and the mechanisms that support it,' it said. The US has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent. North Korea's nuclear test was unanimously condemned by the UN Security Council, which is debating further sanctions against the country. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that North Korea will face consequences for detonating a nuclear device and for the 'belligerent' threats issued against neighbouring countries. dpa dg mm im

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wMay 28th, 2009 - 18:56:27

What America needs now is the American Republic with J Ben hur! Not Obama and the Clintons!

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SP4: Increased surveillenceMay 28th, 2009 - 20:29:10

.......goooooooooood!

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That's what your keepers say about youMay 28th, 2009 - 23:21:19

SP4: Increased surveillance

.......goooooooooood!

==================

(Other things said about SP4)

'Step on it - it may be alive!'

'Follow it - see what it eats!'

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What is this 'American Republic' spam?May 28th, 2009 - 23:29:40

As if we did not have SP4 contributing enough trash ....

How is the U.S. going to increase surveillance, over and above what's now being done? North Korea is highly secretive, and hopefully we have someone within providing intel. We have satellite images and other means of detection, but you cannot get inside the head of the lunatic in charge.

This whole thing is an ad campaign ..... to get other countries to buy their weapons. They have no other sources of export income. In theory, every time they get scolded, it gains them 'street cred' with terrorists.

Cheney operates the same way to raise funds for the GOP. The GOP talking heads are now calling Sotomayor names; but Congress has more innate decency than to partake in that.

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What is this 'American Republic' spam? says:May 29th, 2009 - 06:05:26

'you cannot get inside the head of the lunatic'

Oh, but you can.

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