Clinton Warns North Korea for 'Belligerent' Behavior in Region

By Heejin Koo and Indira A.R. Lakshmanan

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said North Korea must face consequences for its "belligerent and provocative behavior" after Kim Jong Il's regime threatened military action against South Korea.
Clinton spoke in Washington after North Korea's official news agency said Kim's government would no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War and may respond militarily to South Korea's participation in a U.S.-led program that would block ships suspected of carrying nuclear weapons or material for export.
The U.S. takes "very seriously" its commitments to defend South Korea and Japan, its principal allies in the region, Clinton said. She called on North Korea to return to the so- called six party talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear arms program.
North Korea has continued to ratchet up tension since it tested a nuclear weapon on May 25, drawing international condemnation and the prospect of increased sanctions against the communist nation.
"The Korean People's Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer," the official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement today. Any attempt to inspect North Korean vessels will be countered with "prompt and strong military strikes."
South Korea dispatched a warship to its maritime border and is prepared to deploy aircraft, Yonhap News reported, citing military officials it didn't identify. South Korea's military said it will "deal sternly with any provocation" from the North.

'Calm' Response
Still, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak ordered his government to take "calm" measures in the face of the threats, his office said in a statement today. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Takeo Kawamura, echoed those remarks and called on North Korea to "refrain from taking actions that would elevate tensions in Asia."
President Barack Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said North Korea's rhetoric will only bring the nation further isolation. "Threats won't get North Korea the attention it craves," he said.
North Korea routinely issues threats directed at the U.S., South Korea and Japan, warning of military retaliation if they continue to take actions that the country's leadership characterizes as threats to its security.

Aggressive Shift
"This rapid-fire provocation indicates a more aggressive shift in the Kim Jong Il regime," said Ryoo Kihl Jae, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "Kim is obviously using a strategy of maximum force."
North Korea raised the specter of a maritime confrontation. The dispatch by the Korean Central News Agency said North Korea can't guarantee the safety of ships passing through its western waters. The statement specified five islands controlled by the South that were the site of naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.
"What they are saying is that they will take military action if there is any action taken on behalf of the program such as boarding their ships, stopping and searching and so on," said Han Sung Joo, a former South Korean foreign minister.
South Korea yesterday agreed to join the Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, set up to locate and seize shipments of equipment and materials used to make weapons of mass destruction.
Reaction to Test
President Lee had resisted joining the PSI until the nuclear test, even after North Korea fired a ballistic missile on April 5. His predecessor, Roh Moo Hyun, had said that joining the initiative would be too provocative.
North Korea has also fired five short-range missiles in two days in a further display of military defiance. The United Nations Security Council agreed in an emergency session on May 25 to condemn the nuclear test and missile launches.
Under the July 27, 1953, armistice that ended the Korean War, both sides agreed to "a complete cessation of all hostilities" and pledged to accept the demarcation line that has become the world's most-heavily mined demilitarized zone.
The U.S. has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, according to the United States Forces Korea Web site.
In addition to the weapons tests, North Korea may be preparing to reprocess spent fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported earlier today, citing an unidentified South Korean official. Steam has been rising from the facilities, the newspaper said.

Succession
A succession crisis and internal jockeying and unease over who will succeed Kim may be fueling the North's actions.
Kim likely suffered a stroke last August, according to U.S. intelligence officials, and disappeared from public view before presiding over a parliamentary session in April, when he looked gaunt and aged. Research groups including the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute say Kim is 68, while the regime says he is a year younger.
North Korea's threat of a military response may flow less from U.S. and South Korean actions than from domestic turmoil over a possible leadership change, said analysts including Wendy Sherman, former coordinator for North Korea policy under President Bill Clinton.
The leaders "right now care more about internal matters than international acceptance," Sherman said. "It's not that they're not trying to get our attention. They are trying to show each other" how loyal they are to Kim.

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-Joe Offer-