North Korea on Monday insisted the South must admit a team of inspectors to verify the findings of an international probe into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan. The National Defense Commission, the North's top policy-making body, warned the South will be held accountable for "fabricating accusations" that the North sank the ship on March 26. The official KCNA news agency quoted a spokesman for the National Defense Commission as saying, "If South Korea has nothing to hide, then it should allow our inspectors to enter."
The statement came in response to President Lee Myung-bak's announcement that Seoul will halt all trade with the North.
A North Korean military commander on Monday responded to Seoul's announcement that it is resuming so-called psychological warfare -- broadcasting propaganda across the demilitarized zone -- by warning the North will fire at South Korean loudspeakers. "If South Korea installs new speakers for psychological warfare, we will directly aim at them and open fire to destroy them," he said. "If the South Korean traitors challenge our rightful response, we will counter with mightier physical strikes to eliminate the root cause of their provocation," KCNA quoted him as saying.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers on Monday, "If the North disrupts our psychological warfare by opening fire at loudspeakers, we will counterattack immediately." A Defense Ministry official said psychological operations broadcasts via FM radio frequencies began Monday, while broadcasts using loudspeakers will start in two weeks and electronic display boards will be set up in about four months. |