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Journalism of Courage
CHOE SANG-HUN
South Korea Tuesday said North Korea cannot unilaterally nullify the 1953 Korean War ceasefire,calling the Norths war threats a psychological ploy to strengthen Kim Jong-uns leadership at home and force Washington and Seoul to make concessions to the isolated country.
Following through on a standing threat that it revived last week amid tensions over joint US-South Korean military drills coupled with UN sanctions,North Korea declared the armistice nullified as of Monday and that the guns of the 1950-53 Korean War,silenced for 60 years under an uneasy truce,could roar again any time.
North Korea also severed military and Red Cross hot lines and issued a torrent of threats,including a pre-emptive nuclear strike against Washington and Seoul.
In North Korea,the authorities were kicking up a war fever – a tool of populace control they had previously used at times of international tension – by having people evacuate into tunnels with emergency provisions and putting up military camouflages on buses and trucks,the South Korean Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
Kim,the North Korean leader,visited front-line artillery units twice in the last week,warning that war can break out right now and calling for merciless strikes at the South Korean marine bases he watched across the border through binoculars,according to media.
President Park Geun-hyes office announced on Tuesday that she planned to meet President Obama in Washington in early May in her first summit since taking office on February 25.
A unilateral nullification or termination of the armistice is not allowed under its related articles and principles of international laws, said Cho Tae-young,spokesman of the South Korean Foreign Ministry. He was referring to the provision of the armistice stipulating that it can be changed only through mutually acceptable agreements.
