S Korea braces for North Korean moves

Pyongyang may act to mark anniversary and China’s party congress

SOUTH Korea expects more provocative acts by North Korea next month, to coincide with the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean communist party and China’s Communist Party Congress.

During a meeting with President Moon Jae-in yesterday, national security adviser Chung Eui-yong said he expected Pyongyang to act around October 10 and 18, but gave no details.

The South Korean security adviser’s report also pointed to the risk that a military conflict could by sparked by “accidental incidents”, said Park Wan-ju, a lawmaker and head spokesperson of the ruling Democratic Party.

“The president said the US spoke of military and diplomatic options, but South Korea can’t go through war again,” said Park.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has risen in recent weeks as North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump exchanged war-like threats and insults over the North’s nuclear and missile development programme.

The North has accused Trump of declaring war after he warned that Kim’s regime would not last if he persisted in threatening the US and its allies, having earlier warned that North Korea would be totally destroyed in such an event.

Asked if China had a plan to respond to an emergency in North Korea, such as securing nuclear and missile sites, Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said: “Military means cannot become an option,” and urged talks to resolve the issue.

“The Chinese military will make all necessary preparations to protect the country’s sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability,” he added, without elaborating.

China has vowed to uphold UN sanctions against North Korea, besides seeking to get stalled talks started with Pyongyang.

Yesterday, China’s commerce ministry said North Korean firms or joint ventures in China would be shut within 120 days of the latest UN Security Council sanctions passed on September 12. Overseas Chinese joint ventures with North Korean entities or individuals would also be closed, the ministry said. The ministry had issued similar rules after a previous set of UN sanctions in August.

Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on September 3 and has launched dozens of missiles this year, as it accelerates a programme aimed at eventually targeting the US with a nuclear-tipped missile.

The US and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

China, the North’s main ally, would probably be extremely unhappy if Pyongyang tested a missile or carried out some other act during its Communist Party Congress, held every five years.

Yesterday Moon called for the strengthening of South Korea-US defences to rein in the North. – Reuters