Posted on 05/28/2010 9:03:21 AM PDT by jhpigott
SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is preparing to take additional measures against North Korea as it sees the possibility of limited violence by the North amid escalating tensions over Pyongyang's sinking of a Seoul warship, a senior military official said Friday.
"Following the rhetoric of threats, we expect that North Korea could actually carry out a military, non-military provocation," Major Gen. Ryu Je-seung, a senior official at the South Korean defense ministry's policy and planning division, told retired generals and admirals.
"So, our military is preparing to take additional military, non-military measures depending on North Korea's response and attitude," Ryu said.
An attack by the North would be possible if the South sets up loudspeakers along their heavily armed border and starts blaring anti-Pyongyang broadcasts, Ryu said, adding it will take some two weeks to set up the loudspeakers. Ryu didn't elaborate on what the South's additional measures would be.
Ryu confirmed that South Korea and the U.S. raised their alert system on North Korea, called watch condition, to the second-highest level on Wednesday.
Military measures included a resumption of psychological warfare operations, joint naval drills with the United States and banning the North's ships from sailing through the South's waters.
Since Monday, South Korea's military has started anti-North radio broadcasts. The four-hour program titled "Voice of Freedom" is being aired three times a day.
On Saturday, Seoul's top military commanders will hold a meeting to discuss countermeasures against further aggression by North Korea, military officials said.
The meeting agenda is expected to include Seoul's response if South Korean civilians at the Kaesong complex are taken hostage, according to the officials.
The meeting will be led by Lee Sang-eui, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the officials said.
ping
Ping.
I look for NK to try to the kidnapping-hijacking scenario that they’ve been good at.
Yep, there are pockets where a quick action could give the north hundreds of “hostages”.
And the hits keep on coming...
One this is for sure, South Korea isn’t backing down.
Is this the Korean version of the strongly worded letter?
Rock show roadies vs. Starving Communists.
That is a movie that needs to happen.
The latest is that South Korean might now “reconsider” turning on the loudspeakers if the North tones down its rhetoric.
So much for “North Korea will pay a price” eh?
What do you do? Allow them to sink your subs and get away with it because they threaten war?? Tough position. Sometimes I think it might be best to just knock the crap out of them and let the chips fall. No easy decison here at all. At some point, they are going to have to be confronted.
I believe the thinking is that could trigger a N. Korean move to shut down the road linking the complex with S. Korea before the S. Korean workers could get out.
Why don’t they close it?
Well, to quote the South Korean Foreign Minister : “We don’t want to spoil a good kind of showcase for North-South economic cooperation”.
bombastic remarks continue -
This N. Korean general threatens total war as a result of any armed clash in the West Sea.
North Korean General Warns of ‘All Out War’ at Press Conference
May 28, 2010, 11:07 AM EDT
May 28 (Bloomberg) — North Korean Major General Pak Rim Su refuted the results of the international investigation into the sinking of a South Korean warship and said “any accidental clash that may break out in the waters of the West Sea of Korea or in areas along the Demilitarized Zone will lead to all out war,” at a press conference today, according a KCNA statement.
Still..it’s tit for tat back and forth....both sides preparing....riding the line as in the past...but the overall political arena is different...and so one does wonder the outcome here...how long they will play on the edge of war before someone does something foolish.
They already have by sinking the sub. A response it inevitable and absolutely necessary. Tough....no doubt.
At this point all it would take is one unfortunate shot or miss-communication.
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