The Pentagon has announced that it is sending an advanced ballistic missile defence system to Guam, as North Korea ramped up its bellicose rhetoric with the announcement that it has given final approval for a nuclear attack on the US.
By Sarah Titterton and agencies, and Malcolm Moore in Beijing
8:12PM BST 03 Apr 2013
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The General Staff of the Korean People's Army said it was formally informing Washington that US threats would be "smashed by... cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means".
"The merciless operation of (our) revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified," the statement, carried by the state news agency and reported by South Korean news agency Yonhap, said.
The Korean statement came as US defence secretary Chuck Hagel warned of a "real and clear" danger from North Korea.
“Some of the actions they’ve taken over the last few weeks, present a real and clear danger,” Mr Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington.
Kim Jong-Un during an inspection of the second battalion under Korth Korean army Unit 1973 (AFP)
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He said those actions had threatened the interests of South Korea and Japan, but he also cited their direct threats against Guam, an American territory in the Pacific, Hawaii and West Coast of the United States.
Shortly after Mr Hagel spoke, the Pentagon said it was deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), which includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles, an AN/TPY-2 tracking radar and an integrated fire control system.
“The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and stands ready to defend U.S. territory, our allies, and our national interests,” a Pentagon spokesman said.
The news that the ground-based system would be in place in the coming weeks came after two Aegis anti-missile destroyers were sent to the western Pacific to intercept any North Korean strike against US or allied targets.
Despite North Korea's highly-publicised missile tests, relatively little is known about the actual size and capabilities of its arsenal.
The announcement came after Pyongyang shut down the last shared link with the South by refusing entry to almost 500 South Korean workers who work in a cross-border industrial park.
Zhang Yesui, the deputy foreign minister, outlined Beijing's "serious concern about the present situation", and added that it expects the escalation of tension to cease.
"All sides must remain calm and exercise restraint and not take actions which are mutually provocative and must certainly not take actions which will worsen the situation," said the foreign ministry.
The Kaesong complex lies six miles inside North Korea and houses 123 South Korean companies and their 53,000 North Korean workers.
A key source of foreign currency for Pyongyang, generating some $100 million (£66 million) each year, it has never been closed, weathering the aftermath of the 2009 nuclear tests and the shelling of Yongpyeong island the following year.
However, North Korea's decision to block workers and supply trucks from entering the site casts doubt over Kaesong's future security.
North Korea said the 861 South Koreans who were at the site on Wednesday were free to return home, but with no replacements arriving for their shifts, only 33 did so.
"Our workers are on standby to return," said the boss of one factory on the site, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of offending North Korea. "If the situation continues, however, our business will be affected. I am afraid buyers will worry [that our goods will not come out of Kaesong]," he added.
Kim Kwan-jin, Seoul's Defence chief, said if hostages were taken at the site, South Korea would consider military action to free them.
The army has practised an annual drill, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian to free hostages, according to Yonhap, the South Korean news agency.
"Special forces will conduct the operation along with military and government officials in case of crisis," a military official told Yonhap.
However, experts said it was almost unthinkable that South Korean soldiers would storm the border. "If North Korea puts Kaesong workers into danger, military operations should be considered as a last resort," a senior government official told Yonhap. "We should pressure North Korea through diplomatic means."
Workers emerging from Kaesong on Wednesday said production was continuing.
"There seemed to be nothing different at Kaesong, although customs officers at the border wore uniforms and more soldiers were seen," one textile worker named Roh said.
He added that a greater concern, with supply trucks blocked, is whether the complex runs out of food. South Korea applies for permission to enter Kaesong on a daily basis, and North Korea has not indicated how long the ban will continue.
A spokesman for the Unification ministry noted that North Korea has yet to take any unprecedented steps as it ratchets up press on the international community. He said access to Kaesong had been cut on three occasions in 2009 during the annual military drills between the US and South Korean armies.
France, meanwhile, called on China to rein in North Korea. Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign minister, said China had "power over North Korea" and that he would travel to Beijing next week to discuss the situation.
Senior American officials remain relaxed about the situation, predicting that North Korea will back down after this year's military exercises conclude.
"The North Koreans want the international community to feed their people, fuel their factories and fill their bank accounts," one official told the New York Times. "If North Korea were a self-sufficient enterprise, we would have a much bigger problem on our hands."
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
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Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9970346/Pentagon-sends-missile-defences-to-Guam-as-North-Korea-approves-nuclear-attack-on-US.html
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