<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>March 9, 2009
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Tensions high in 2 Koreas <!--10 min-->
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Anti-war activists denounce the US-South Korea joint military drills as a US soldier travels past on a military vehicle. North Korea said it would regard the shooting down of any of its rockets as an act of war. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->SEOUL - US and South Korean troops began annual military drills on Monday and North Korea said it had put its armed forces on full combat readiness in response to the exercises, heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea, which is preparing to test-fire its longest-range ballistic missile, also said it would regard the shooting down of any of its rockets as an act of war.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Envoy in Seoul
South Korean officials did not have any immediate comment on the latest rhetoric from Pyongyang, but the government of conservative President Lee Myung Bak has warned the North to cease provocative moves and return to dialogue.
South Korea, Japan and the United States have said they saw no difference between a satellite and a missile launch because they use the same technology and the same rocket. The North is barred from launching a ballistic missile under UN sanctions.
Hundreds halted at border
SEOUL - MORE than 700 South Koreans were blocked from travelling to a joint industrial complex in North Korea on Monday after Pyongyang cut its last communication channels with Seoul, officials said.
The North said early on Monday that it would switch off military phone lines to the South in protest at a joint US-South Korean military exercise which started on Monday.
Why is North Korea making more threats?
SEOUL - NORTH Korea said on Monday it had put its armed forces on full combat readiness as US and South Korean troops began annual military drills.
The comments are the latest in increasingly threatening words from the isolated state which is preparing to test-fire a long-range missile that could, in theory, fly as far as the US state of Alaska.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The North Korean army said in a statement that the drills were a 'military provocation' that would only occur 'on the eve of a war'.
Pyongyang regularly accuses the United States and South Korea of aggressive intentions before the exercises, which have been held for years without major incident.
But North Korean media has been more strident about these drills, which come as Pyongyang is making preparations to test-fire its Taepodong-2 missile and at a time of speculation about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
North Korea has repeatedly said it was preparing to launch a satellite as part of a peaceful space programme.
'Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war,' a spokesman for the North's Korean
People's Army said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
Last week the unpredictable state said it could not guarantee the safety of South Korean civilian aircraft flying near its airspace. That forced several airliners to alter their routes.
The military drills are scheduled to run until March 20, and are longer and on a greater scale than in previous years.
The aim is to test the defensive readiness of the combined US and South Korean forces ahead of the transfer of war-time command from the US to the South Korean military in the next several years. Troops will be mobilised throughout South Korea, including Marines conducting live-fire drills north of the capital Seoul, which is less than two hours drive from the border with North Korea. A US aircraft carrier will take part in the exercises, the US military said. -- REUTERS
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Tensions high in 2 Koreas <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Anti-war activists denounce the US-South Korea joint military drills as a US soldier travels past on a military vehicle. North Korea said it would regard the shooting down of any of its rockets as an act of war. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->SEOUL - US and South Korean troops began annual military drills on Monday and North Korea said it had put its armed forces on full combat readiness in response to the exercises, heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea, which is preparing to test-fire its longest-range ballistic missile, also said it would regard the shooting down of any of its rockets as an act of war.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Envoy in Seoul
South Korean officials did not have any immediate comment on the latest rhetoric from Pyongyang, but the government of conservative President Lee Myung Bak has warned the North to cease provocative moves and return to dialogue.
South Korea, Japan and the United States have said they saw no difference between a satellite and a missile launch because they use the same technology and the same rocket. The North is barred from launching a ballistic missile under UN sanctions.
Hundreds halted at border
SEOUL - MORE than 700 South Koreans were blocked from travelling to a joint industrial complex in North Korea on Monday after Pyongyang cut its last communication channels with Seoul, officials said.
The North said early on Monday that it would switch off military phone lines to the South in protest at a joint US-South Korean military exercise which started on Monday.
Why is North Korea making more threats?
SEOUL - NORTH Korea said on Monday it had put its armed forces on full combat readiness as US and South Korean troops began annual military drills.
The comments are the latest in increasingly threatening words from the isolated state which is preparing to test-fire a long-range missile that could, in theory, fly as far as the US state of Alaska.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The North Korean army said in a statement that the drills were a 'military provocation' that would only occur 'on the eve of a war'.
Pyongyang regularly accuses the United States and South Korea of aggressive intentions before the exercises, which have been held for years without major incident.
But North Korean media has been more strident about these drills, which come as Pyongyang is making preparations to test-fire its Taepodong-2 missile and at a time of speculation about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
North Korea has repeatedly said it was preparing to launch a satellite as part of a peaceful space programme.
'Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war,' a spokesman for the North's Korean
People's Army said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
Last week the unpredictable state said it could not guarantee the safety of South Korean civilian aircraft flying near its airspace. That forced several airliners to alter their routes.
The military drills are scheduled to run until March 20, and are longer and on a greater scale than in previous years.
The aim is to test the defensive readiness of the combined US and South Korean forces ahead of the transfer of war-time command from the US to the South Korean military in the next several years. Troops will be mobilised throughout South Korea, including Marines conducting live-fire drills north of the capital Seoul, which is less than two hours drive from the border with North Korea. A US aircraft carrier will take part in the exercises, the US military said. -- REUTERS
