North Korea Escalates Threats

Bruce Klingner / March 11, 2009

Pyongyang has accused the U.S. and South Korea of using the ongoing annual joint military exercise Key Resolve/Foal Eagle as preparations to mount a preemptive attack on North Korea. Pyongyang warns that “a war may break out any moment due to the reckless policy of confrontation” pursued by the U.S. and its allies. What has not been mentioned, and is a lost public diplomacy opportunity for Washington and Seoul is that North Korea has also been engaged in its annual Winter Training Cycle. The North Korean exercise typically begins with small unit in-garrison training in December, progressing to field exercises that increase in echelon until March or April when it culminates in corps-level maneuvers, usually involving a mechanized corps.

In its effort to get the U.S. and South Korea to soften its policies, North Korea has brandished threats of “war” more often during the past two months than has been standard even for the normally belligerent regime. Pyongyang warned Seoul it was on the “brink of hostilities” and threatened naval confrontations over the disputed maritime border in the West Sea. Last week Pyongyang threatened South Korean civilian airliners and cut off all inter-Korean communication lines, (more…)