N. Korea Says It Will Bolster Nuke Program

N. Korea says it will bolster nuke program

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060726/...huBHNlYwNtdHM-

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer Wed Jul 26, 1:36 PM ET

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's defense minister said his country will strengthen its nuclear weapons program in response to U.N. sanctions and American hostility, the North's official news agency reported Wednesday.

North Korea will upgrade its arsenal "in every way by employing all possible means and methods" and will greet any aggressors with "all-out do-or-die resistance and unprecedented devastating strikes," Kim Il Chol said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

Kim said such a move is necessary to counter the United States' "extremely hostile act and the irresponsibility of the U.N. Security Council."

Kim spoke at a gathering to mark the 53rd anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.

North Korea fired seven missiles in early July, including at least one believed capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. International condemnation prompted the Security Council to adopt a resolution sanctioning North Korea and banning member states from missile-related dealings with the communist country.

The defense minister warned that the U.N. resolution will not force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program. North Korea "can survive without sweets, but not without bullets," he said.

Separately, a South Korean civic group said the North is readying its forces for conflict.

Artillery units have been armed and civilian forces, composed of laborers and farmers, have been outfitted with uniforms, the Seoul-based Good Friends group said in a statement Wednesday.

Drills are being held for both active duty and civilian forces, and civilians have been issued vehicles covered with camouflage netting, Good Friends said without citing sources for its information.

Previous reports by the South Korean group of activities in the isolated North later were confirmed. But a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry dismissed the report.

from newsmax.com



http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti...20/92708.shtml

July 20, 2006

ILAN, Taiwan -- Patriot missiles streaked across the light-blue Asian sky and F-16s bombarded ships Thursday as Taiwan beat back a simulated Chinese invasion in the island's largest-ever military exercise.

The "Chinese Glory" maneuvers were meant to test Taiwan's army, navy, air force and marines against the forces of its longtime rival mainland China, just 100 miles across the Taiwan Strait.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, and Beijing remains committed to bringing the self-governing island back into its fold - possibly through the sort of beach-landing invasion that the exercises simulated.

The drills followed Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian's decision earlier this year to scrap a government body responsible for the island's eventual unification with the mainland.

Chen's measure infuriated Beijing and alarmed Washington, which fears being drawn into a war in the western Pacific.

Although the U.S. switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, it remains committed to Taiwan's defense, and has hinted it would intervene if China attacks.

After the military exercise, Chen congratulated the Taiwan armed forces on their achievements.

"This is the first time Taiwan has shown the deployment of its Patriot-II missiles," he said. "And we have made good progress in integrating our reserves into our regular forces."

Chen warned that China remains a threat to Taiwan's developing democracy. "China is acting against Taiwan to try to create the foundation of a future invasion," he said.

Taiwanese military officials said 13,000 soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines, as well as 7,000 reservists, took part in this year's exercises - more than ever before.

The simulated Chinese invasion began with two Patriot-II missiles streaking northward and taking out a pair of incoming "Chinese" missiles.

F-16 fighters scrambled to attack incoming "Chinese" ships, and Knox-class frigates and Cobra helicopters joined the fray, firing a spectacular array of missiles and other ordinance.

Colonel Yu Chung-ji said that, as in past years, the exercise simulated the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy's beaches.

Yu acknowledged, however, that if China decided to move against Taiwan, it could also opt for a so-called decapitation strategy - coordinated commando attacks and pinpoint bombing against the island's leaders and key institutions.

"Personally, I think it is more likely they will choose the decapitation option," he said.

© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I'll bet China will try to "repatriate" Taiwan if the US military spreads itself to thin.