03/09/2009, 00.00
KOREA
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Pyongyang threatens the South and cuts communication with Seoul

The communist regime considers the joint US- South Korean military exercises a “provocation“ and announces war. In elections for the renewal of the Supreme People´s Assembly, the “Dear Leader” obtains 100% consensus from the military college.
Seoul (AsiaNews/Agenzie) – Pyongyang has cut communication lines with Seoul and announced military reprisals should the iminent launch of the Taepodong-2 satelite be targeted. These fresh threats from the communist regime appear to be in response to the annual US-South Korean joint military exercises, taking place in these days. Yesterday voting also took place for the renewal of the Supreme People´s Assembly , in which North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il obtained 100% “consensus” from the military college of 333 in which he was candidated.
 
This morning North Korea interupted military phone lines with the South. The office for communications between the two armies was established in 2005, in a joint agreement signed July 20th of the same year, in Panmunjom village in the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas. For years Washington and Seoul have been carrying out joint military exercises, but up until now they were never used by North Korea as a pretext to announce a war between the two nations. A statment issued by the North Korean state news agency Kcna describes the military manouvers as a “military provocation“ that would only occur “on the eve of a war”.
 
Moreover the general commander of the North Korea People’s Army has promised an immediate response should the satellite that Pyongyang is preparing to launch into orbit be targeted. "Precisely – a command statement spells out – shooting down our peaceful satellite will mean war". According to the North Korean government the rocket is for the purpose of spacial telecommunications; international analysts do not exclude that it is the latest evolution of missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads and of hitting the Western seaboard of the United States. Analists consider North Korean war-mongering with the South as an attempt to draw US and international attention. The main issues on their agenda being economic aid and funding for the North that Seoul has always insisted be linked to Pyongyang´s de-nuclearization.
 
Finally yesterday elections were held in the North for the renewal of the Supreme People´s Assembly. The vote, which is pure formality in a country held in the grips of a dicatorship, registered 100% in favour of Kim Jong-il. He was candidated in the military college 333, considered aluckey number in the North. Each college had one candidate. The only element of any meaning in the vote was the possible candidacy of Kim Jong-un, the “Dear Leaders” third eldest son and a possible heir to the command.
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