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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom_H_68 who wrote (10988)	2/20/2003 2:41:41 PM
From: ajax99	Respond to of 25898

No one but you believes that - North Korea is an arms conduit for China!

To: Tom_H_68 who wrote (10988)	2/20/2003 2:43:30 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

I hope you are correct, but read this: story.news.yahoo.com North Korean fighter jet crosses border with South Korea, returns without incident Thu Feb 20, 8:28 AM ET By SANG-HUN CHOE, Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea - Rattling nerves along the border, a North Korean jet briefly violated South Korean airspace on Thursday, forcing Southern warplanes to scramble to the scene and an anti-aircraft missile unit to jump to high alert. AP Photo Slideshow: North Korea Nuclear Tensions Latest news: • U.S. Expects to Hear From Turkey on Aid AP - 1 hour, 3 minutes ago • Iraq Names 83 Who Helped Destroy Weapons AP - 1 hour, 16 minutes ago • Iraq Braces for War; Saddam Meets Aides AP - 2 hours, 18 minutes ago Special Coverage The morning incursion, which lasted two minutes, came only days after North Korea (news - web sites) threatened to abandon the armistice keeping peace along the border if the United States imposes sanctions on the communist regime. The flight also underlined heightened regional tension just days ahead of a visit to South Korea (news - web sites) by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) to discuss the intensifying standoff over the North's nuclear weapons development. South Korea protested the intrusion — the first by air since 1983 — and urged the North not to do it again. "Our military sternly protests the North Korean provocation and demands that the North take actions to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents," ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Hwang Young-soo said in a statement. Hwang warned that the North Korean incursion "could result in very serious consequences in the current situation on the Korean Peninsula." Despite the tensions, President-elect Roh Moo-hyun said in a speech that he would push for greater reconciliation with North Korea and called for a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff. "North Korea's nuclear development attempt will never be tolerated," Roh told a dinner party at a Seoul hotel. "However, the problem should be resolved through dialogue and diplomatic means in a peaceful manner." The nuclear dispute gathered pace in October, when U.S. officials said North Korea had admitted having a covert nuclear program. Washington and its allies suspended fuel shipments, and the North retaliated by expelling U.N. monitors, restarting frozen nuclear facilities and withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. On Tuesday, North Korea threatened to abandon the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War if the United States went ahead with sanctions or other actions against the communist country. The North Korean MiG-19 jet fighter crossed the borderline at 10:03 a.m. (0103 GMT) Thursday and flew 13 kilometers (7.8 miles) into Southern airspace before heading back into communist territory two minutes later. A South Korea anti-aircraft missile unit based near Incheon, a seaport west of Seoul, was given the order to be ready to fire. At the same time, two South Korean F-5E jets flew to the scene to try to intercept the intruder, the ministry said. Later, four more South Korean F-5E jets were deployed. The first South Korean jets were 30 kilometers (19 miles), or a two-minute flight, from the enemy jet when it began retreating, said air force Col. Oh Sung-dae. The North does not recognize the so-called Northern Limit Line maritime border that was drawn up by the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War. North Korea has often provoked armed clashes along the zone in apparent attempts to raise tensions and bring South Korea and its U.S. ally to the negotiating table. Later in the day, North Korea's official state news agency, KCNA, described the situation on the divided Korean Peninsula and in northeast Asia as "so alarming that a nuclear war may break out any moment." In June last year, warships of the two Koreas clashed near the western sea border. One South Korean warship sank, killing six sailors and wounding 18 others. North Korea admitted that it also suffered casualties but did not say how many. In 1999, a series of North Korean incursions across the western sea border touched off the first naval clash between the sides since the war. One North Korean boat sank, and about 30 communist sailors were believed to have died. Several South Koreans were injured. International consideration of North Korea's nuclear plans moved ahead on Thursday, with China hinting the issue might be resolved with regional talks — a statement that appeared to depart slightly from its weeks of insistence that the issue was a matter for only Pyongyang and Washington. A day earlier, the U.N. Security Council referred the issue to experts for further study before the council begins debating the matter. Thursday's incursion came despite continuing efforts at reconciliation between the two Koreas, which have been split since 1945. A group of South Koreans headed north on Thursday for temporary reunions with family members in the North whom they haven't seen in a half century. The United States has said repeatedly it wants to settle the nuclear dispute diplomatically and has assured the North that it has no plans for an attack. The North, however, frequently accuses Washington of plotting a massive invasion and has warned that only direct talks with the United States on a nonaggression pact will resolve the standoff. Powell is to travel to Japan and China in coming days before arriving in South Korea to attend Roh's inauguration next Tuesday.