Seoul : North Korea's military warned South Korea and the US yesterday of "unprecedented nuclear strikes" over a report the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country.
The North routinely issues such warnings and officials in Seoul and Washington react calmly. Diplomats in South Korea and the US instead have repeatedly called on Pyongyang to return to international negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear programmes.
"Those who seek to bring down the system in the [North], whether they play a main role or a passive role, will fall victim to the unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army," North Korea's military said in comments carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The North, believed to have enough weaponised plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs, conducted its second atomic test last year, drawing tighter UN sanctions.
Experts from South Korea, the US and China will meet in China next month to share information on North Korea, assess possible contingencies in the country, and consider ways to cooperate in case of an emergency situation, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported earlier this month, citing unidentified sources in Seoul and Beijing.
The experts will also hold follow-up meetings in Seoul in June and in Honolulu in July, it said.
The North Korean statement yesterday specifically referred to the March 19 newspaper report. A South Korea's Defence Ministry spokeswoman said she would check the report.
South Korean media have reported that Seoul has drawn up a military operations plan with the US to cope with possible emergencies in the North. The North says the US plots to topple its regime, a claim Washington has consistently denied.
Last month, the North also threatened a "powerful — even nuclear — attack," if the US and South Korea went ahead with annual military drills. There was no military provocation from North Korea during the exercises.
