3.12.2013

North Korea Declares War Truce 'Invalid'



Later Monday, Washington slapped a series of new sanctions on North Korea, reflecting its deepening concern over Pyongyang's weapons activities.

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Associated Press

South Korean soldiers carried out exercises on Monday near the border village of Panmunjom in P'aju.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland described Pyongyang's recent actions, including previous threats to launch strikes against the U.S., as "bellicose rhetoric," saying it wasn't clear what legal authority Pyongyang has to unilaterally abrogate the 1953 armistice pact.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it had put sanctions on North Korea's primary foreign-exchange bank in response to Pyongyang's nuclear test last month. The department also sanctioned Paek Se-Bong, chairman of North Korea's Second Economic Committee and a senior member of government. The committee oversees production of ballistic missiles and supervises North Korea's main conduit for arms dealings.

The State Department placed additional sanctions on three individuals linked to North Korea's weapons program: Pak To-Chun, the head of the Munitions Industry Department managing weapons production and export; Chu Kyu-Chang, who directs the Munitions Industry Department and formerly headed ballistic-missile research; and O Kuk-Ryul, the vice chairman of the National Defense Commission.

Pyongyang routinely portrays the annual military drills in the South as a prelude to an invasion of the North, and declares that it will retaliate for any violation of its territory. But this latest round of threats is higher pitched, reflecting Pyongyang's anger over United Nations sanctions in response to the Feb. 12 nuclear test.

Following a week of aggressive rhetoric from North Korea, the government's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported Monday that the armistice suspending the Korean War had been "declared invalid."

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