LOC09:02
06:02 GMT
TOKYO, June 20 (KUNA) -- The top US commander in South Korea said Monday
North Korea is likely to launch more military attacks against the South,
Yonhap News Agency reported.
"While the Kim (Jong-il) regime has proven a willingness to escalate in
order to obtain what it wants, I am convinced that the ROK-US alliance is
prepared," Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of US Forces Korea, told a forum in
Seoul, referring to South Korea by the acronym of its official name, the
Republic of Korea.
"Our counter provocation planning and combined exercises are stronger than
ever. In the past year, we have worked hard to develop a hostile counter
provocation plan that more adequately addresses the full spectrum of conflict,
" Sharp was quoted as saying.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula rose to one of their highest levels last
year since the 1950-53 Korean War after the North sank a South Korean warship
and bombarded the southern border island of Yeonpyeong, killing 50 people. In
between the attacks, North Korea disclosed its uranium enrichment facility,
which could give Pyongyang a second way to make a nuclear bomb.
Sharp also accused North Korea of engaging in "coercive strategy." "Their
desire to antagonize, provoke, appease and demand concessions has been taken
in order to achieve the regime's goals of gaining food, fuel, economic aid and
succession to sustain their regime and become a 'strong and prosperous nation'
by 2012," he said.
About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the
1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. (end)
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