North Korea says U.S. hostile, readies more rockets.

[Dantheman62]

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea, defiant in the face of international condemnation of its latest nuclear test, on Tuesday accused the United States of hostile intent and was reportedly ready to test-fire more short-range missiles.

In a move certain to add to tension in the region, South Korea said it would join a U.S.-led initiative to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction, something Pyongyang has warned it would consider a declaration of war.

Monday's nuclear test, the North's second after one in 2006, drew sharp rebuke from regional powers, and President Barack Obama called Pyongyang's atomic arms program a threat to international security.

Underlining concerns over how far the North might be prepared to raise the stakes, Obama assured South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of Washington's unequivocal commitment to his country's defense on the long-divided peninsula where some two million troops face off.

There is little more Washington can do to deter the ostracized state, punished for years by international sanctions and so poor it relies on aid to feed its 23 million people.

Analysts say the latest military grandstanding is also aimed at bolstering leader Kim Jong-il's steel grip on power at home so he can better engineer his succession -- with many speculating he wants his third son to take over.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090526/ts_nm/us_korea_north

[Dantheman62]

North Korea fires two short-range missiles: media.

5 mins ago
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired two short-range missiles on Tuesday off its east coast, Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean government source as saying.

On Monday, the reclusive state tested its second nuclear device and fired off three short-range, surface-to-air missiles from an east coast missile base, earning it international condemnation.

[Dantheman62]

8 mins ago
SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean news agency is reporting that North Korea has test-fired two short-range missiles from an east coast launch pad.

The Yonhap news agency cites an unnamed government sources as saying the missiles have a range of about 80 miles (130 kilometers).

The reports says one was a surface-to-air missile and the other was a ground-to-ship missile. Both were fired Tuesday afternoon.

[Dantheman62]

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[Dantheman62]

The North fired off three short-range missiles on Monday.

Monday's nuclear test, the North's second after one in 2006, drew sharp rebuke from regional powers, and U.S. President Barack Obama called Pyongyang's atomic arms program a threat to international security.

The demonstrations of military might have also taken a toll on Seoul's jittery financial markets, worried about the impact of North Korea's growing belligerence in a region which accounts for a sixth of the global economy.

Underlining concerns over how far the North might be prepared to raise the stakes, Obama assured South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of Washington's unequivocal commitment to defense on the long-divided peninsula, where some two million troops face off.

There is little more Washington can do to deter the ostracized state, punished for years by international sanctions and so poor it relies on aid to feed its 23 million people.

Analysts say the latest military grandstanding is also aimed at bolstering leader Kim Jong-il's steel grip on power at home so he can better engineer his succession -- with many speculating he wants his third son to take over.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the nuclear test and is working on a new resolution, but analysts say North Korea's giant neighbor China is unlikely to support anything tough.

For China, the more immediate risk may be serious rupture inside the impoverished state, which could spark a flood of North Korean refugees across its border.

Beijing is also believed to want to bring Pyongyang back to long-running talks with regional powers to make it give up ambitions to be a nuclear weapons power in return for massive aid and an end to its years as a pariah state.

However, analysts say North Korea, which now spurns those talks, looks set on wanting a place at the table of nuclear-armed states and the leverage that will bring it with Washington.

Brushing aside the latest international condemnation, Pyongyang said the United States was the aggressive one, its long-held argument to justify having a nuclear arsenal.

"The U.S. would be well advised to halt at once its dangerous military moves against the DPRK (North Korea) if it wants to escape the lot of a tiger moth, bearing deep in mind that any attempt to make a pre-emptive attack on the DPRK is little short of inviting a disaster itself."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090526/ts_nm/us_korea_north