North Korea confirms end of war truce

North Korea confirmed yesterday that it had shredded the 60-year-old armistice ending the Korean War, and warned that the next step was an act of “merciless” military retaliation against its enemies. A lengthy statement by the North’s Ministry of Armed Forces added to the tide of dire threats flowing from Pyongyang in recent days that have raised military tensions on the Korean peninsula to their highest level for years. The statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency argued that the real “warmongering” was coming from the United States and its “puppets” in Seoul. “They would be well advised to keep in mind that the armistice agreement is no longer valid and (N. Korea) is not restrained by the North-South declaration on non-aggression,” a ministry spokesman said. “What is left to be done now is an action of justice and merciless retaliation of the army and people” of N. Korea, the spokesman said. The North announced last week that it would nullify the 1953 armistice and peace pacts signed with Seoul in protest over joint South Korea-US military maneuvers that began on Monday. Because the Korean War was concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas have always remained technically at war. Voiding the ceasefire theoretically opens the way to a resumption of hostilities, although observers note this is far from the first time that N. Korea has announced the demise of the armistice. The armistice was approved by the UN General Assembly. Both the UN and S. Korea have repudiated the North’s unilateral withdrawal. “The terms of the armistice agreement do not allow either side, unilaterally, to free themselves from it,” said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky. The North has also threatened to launch nuclear strikes against the United States and S. Korea in response to fresh UN sanctions adopted after the North carried out its third nuclear test last month. While the threats have been mostly dismissed as bluster, there are strong concerns that the North will attempt some form of military provocation in the coming weeks. The South’s Yonhap news agency yesterday quoted a senior military source as saying sorties by N. Korean fighter jets in recent days had reached “unprecedented” levels, with around 700 counted on Monday alone. As well as nullifying ceasefire agreements, the North severed a Red Cross hotline that was one of the few means of communication between Pyongyang and Seoul, which do not have diplomatic relations. However, a spokeswoman for the presidential Blue House in Seoul said a military hotline was still operating. “The military communication is working normally and we will seek to convey any message to the North via the channel when necessary,” she said.