Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Inter-Korean clash may break out at any moment, warns DPRK

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-20 11:16

PYONGYANG -- The official news agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned Thursday that an inter-Korean conflict may break out at any moment.

Related readings: Clinton announces US special envoy on DPRK China, DPRK to boost cultural co-op DPRK warns of war; Clinton in Seoul DPRK top leader registers as military candidate for parliament election

"Now that the political and military confrontation between the North and the South has gone into extremes, a physical clash may break out at any moment," the Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch accusing the United States and South Korea of arms buildup around the DPRK.

The US was deploying air force fighters in South Korea, preparing for a war of aggression against the DPRK, while South Korean tank units were conducting ground attack drills, it alleged.

"North-South relations have reached such a pass that there is no way to improve them or bring them under control," it added.

Tension in the region has risen since President Lee Myung Bak took office in Seoul a year ago with a vow to take a tougher stance on the DPRK, a position that effectively reversed 10 years of his liberal predecessors' efforts to engage the North, often with generous economic aid.

The DPRK scrapped all political and military agreements with South Korea and declared an "all-out confrontational posture" in January.