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DPRK vows nuke attack if provoked by US
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-26 10:26

SEOUL, South Korea: Punching their fists into the air and shouting "Let's crush them!" some 100,000 people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) packed Pyongyang's main square Thursday for an anti-US rally as the government promised a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation" for any American-led attack.

DPRK vows nuke attack if provoked by US
File photo shows a military unit taking part in a missile-firing drill at an undisclosed location in DPRK. [Agencies]
 DPRK vows nuke attack if provoked by US
Several demonstrators held up a placard depicting a pair of hands smashing a missile with "US" written on it, according to footage taken by APTN in Pyongyang on the 59th anniversary of the start of the Korean War (1950-53).

A new UN Security Council resolution passed recently to punish the DPRK for conducting an underground nuclear test in May requires UN member states to request inspections of ships suspected of carrying arms or nuclear weapons-related material.

In response to the sanctions, the K pulled out of nuclear talks and has ramped up already strident anti-American rhetoric. And the government may now be moving to openly flout the resolution by dispatching a ship suspected of carrying arms to Myanmar.

While it was not clear what was on board the DPRK-flagged Kang Nam 1, US officials have mentioned artillery and other conventional weaponry. One US intelligence expert suspected missiles.

The US and its allies have made no decision on whether to request inspection of the ship, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday in Washington, but the DPRK has said it would consider any interception an act of war.

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If permission for inspection is refused, the ship must dock at a port of its choosing so local authorities can check its cargo. Vessels suspected of carrying banned goods must not be offered bunkering services at port, such as fuel, the resolution says.

Another US defense official said he tended to doubt reports that the Kang Nam was carrying nuclear-related equipment, saying information seems to indicate the cargo is banned conventional munitions. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to talk about intelligence.

The DPRK is suspected to have transported banned goods to Myanmar before on the Kang Nam, said Bertil Lintner, a Bangkok-based DPRK expert who has written a book about its leader Kim Jong Il.

Pyongyang also has been helping the government in Yangon build up its weapons arsenal, an intelligence expert from the Republic of Korea (ROK) said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

"The DPRK appears to have exported conventional weapons to Myanmar in exchange for food," another expert said.

Pyongyang is believed to have transported digging equipment to Myanmar, which is seeking to make its new capital a fortress with vast underground facilities, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.

The DPRK has been locked in a tense standoff with Washington and other regional powers over its nuclear program. In April, the country launched a rocket widely seen as a cover for a test of long-range missile technology — a move that drew UN Security Council condemnation.

The DPRK responded by abandoning six-nation disarmament talks and threatening to carry out nuclear tests and fire intercontinental ballistic missiles. The DPRK is believed to be developing a long-range missile designed to strike the US but experts say it has not figured out how to mount a bomb onto the missile.

On Thursday, Pyongyang vowed to enlarge its atomic arsenal and warned of a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation" if provoked by the US

The DPRK's  armed forces will deal an annihilating blow that is unpredictable and unavoidable, to any 'sanctions' or provocations by the US," Pak Pyong Jong, first vice chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, told the crowd gathered for the Korean War anniversary rally.

In Seoul, some 5,000 people — mostly American and ROK veterans and war widows — also commemorated the anniversary at a ceremony.

The ROK President Lee Myung-bak said the nation is prepared to counter any type of threat or provocation.

"The South Korean government is firmly determined to defend the lives and wealth of its people and will do its utmost to find the remains of troops killed in the Korean War," he said at the ceremony.

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