Posted on 12/29/2006 2:37:15 AM PST by Schnucki
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea on Friday termed North Korea a grave threat, a further sign of the deepening chill in relations between the two since Pyongyang's nuclear test nearly three months ago.
A defense white paper used some of the harshest language to describe its communist neighbor since the South tried to set aside decades of outright hostility toward the North with the diplomacy of what Seoul dubbed its "sunshine policy."
"Considering the seriousness of the North's nuclear test and its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) threat, this edition of the white paper specified the North as a grave threat," the defense ministry said in a statement.
Two years ago, the term it used was "direct military threat."
A copy of the paper, published every two years, was not immediately available.
The ministry said the test along with the development of other weapons of mass destruction, a standing army of more than 1.2 million and the forward deployment of conventional weapons made the threat from the communist state more serious.
North Korea has probably extracted more than 50 kg of plutonium since 1994, with more than 30 kg obtained during the past three years when it was negotiating with regional powers to end its nuclear program, a ministry official said.
The two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China failed in their latest round of talks last week to make any progress in suspending the North's nuclear programs in exchange for aid and better ties with Washington and Tokyo.
Estimates of the North's nuclear arsenal have ranged from one or two weapons to 10 or more. Its plutonium stockpile is believed to be enough to make 13 bombs, according to some estimates.
North Korea announced on October 9 it had successfully conducted a nuclear test, triggering a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the test and applying financial and trade sanctions.
The North's top nuclear envoy said last week at the end of the six-way talks session his country would continue to increase what he called its military deterrent in face of U.S. pressure.
I bet we won't be seeing any more demonstrations demanding the removal of US troops from South Korea any time soon. ;^)
We have them nearly every day outside the gates here at Yongsan...
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