311 lines
9.3 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
311 lines
9.3 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
news
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worldnews
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asia
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southkorea
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8220912
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# South Korea holds large live-fire drills
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## South Korea has staged its largest military exercise of the year, putting
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on a massive and deliberate show of force against North Korea in a bid to warn
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against any further aggression from its volatile neighbour.
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TelegraphPlayer-8220912
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By Peter Foster in Beijing 7:23AM GMT 23 Dec 2010
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The drills, conducted just 30 miles south of the heavily armed border dividing
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North and South Korea, came a month after a North Korean artillery bombardment
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against a South Korean island killed four, dramatically raising tensions on
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the Peninsula.
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Around 800 troops took part in the exercise - the largest so far this year -
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which included 30 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, F-15 fighter-jets,
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artillery pieces, multiple long-range rockets as well as Cobra helicopter
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gunships.
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"Tanks raced down mountain roads firing artillery rounds. The boom of cannons
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echoed through the valley and the hills erupted in smoke," reported the
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Associated Press, "Rockets slammed into the side of a hill as helicopters
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overhead fired rockets at targets and F-15 fighters zoomed by dropping bombs."
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Pyongyang, which earlier this week had threatened retaliation against another
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South Korean exercise, made no immediate response to the drill other than to
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condemn it as "provocative" - an adjective which has repeatedly been applied
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to its own conduct in recent weeks.
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The North rejected assertions by the South that the drills were "routine",
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saying in a statement on the KCNA official news agency that such claims were
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meant "to conceal the provocative and offensive nature of the exercises".
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Related Content
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* ## [North Korea warns of 'holy nuclear war'][1]
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* ## [North Korea declare Kim Jong-un's birthday a public holiday][2]
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* ## [North Korea brands US politician 'human scum'][3]
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* ## [South Korea to hold large live-fire exercise close to border][4]
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The US has backed its ally's right to hold the defensive exercises which have
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been condemned by Russia and China who have called for restraint and an end to
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actions that might escalate into war. The UN security council remains deeply
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divided on how best to handle North Korea.
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The South Korea government, under intense public pressure after a meek
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response to November's bombardment, has significantly hardened its stance in
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recent weeks, appointing more hawkish defence officials and promising to hit
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back hard in the North strikes again.
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Analysts said that Pyongyang was unlikely to strike again immediately,
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following a long established pattern of alternating force with diplomatic
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gambits.
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Last week North Korea hinted to an unofficial US envoy that it might allow UN
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weapons inspectors back into the country to inspect the nuclear program which
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caused the collapse of the Six Party nuclear disarmament talks in April 2009.
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However the issue has been complicated by the emergence of a second, uranium-
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based program which will make it more plausible for the North to claim its
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nuclear programs are civilian in nature, complicating any attempts to verify
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North Korean disarmament.
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Many analysts, including in the US, say that North Korea has shown no
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intention of giving up its nuclear weapons which remain one of its key
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bargaining chips on the international stage.
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"Their attitude is: accept us as a nuclear power or we have nothing to talk
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about. There is no sign of meaningful concessions," said Peter Beck, a North
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Korea expert with the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.
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Other analysts warn that despite Pyongyang's muted response to this week's
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military exercises, North Korea is very likely to strike again in the next few
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months, when it considers it politically opportune to do so.
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"The North Korean leaders did not duck the fight this time because they were
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afraid," wrote Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul, in the Financial
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Times earlier this week referring to the Monday's artillery drills.
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"Rather, they did what a cold-minded tactician should do: they avoided an
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engagement under unfavourable conditions chosen by the opponent, in order to
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strike the opponent at the time and place of their own choice, suddenly and
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forcefully."
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[What are these?][6]
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* Share: [Share][5] [ ][7] [ ][8]
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[Tweet][9]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/8220912/South-Korea-
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holds-large-live-fire-drills.html
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Telegraph
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## [South Korea][10]
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* ### [News »][11]
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* ### [World News »][12]
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* ### [Asia »][13]
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* ### [North Korea »][14]
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More Video
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## [Telegraph TV][15]
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## [World News][12]
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## [Asia][13]
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## [South Korea][10]
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[X][5] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][6]
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Share:
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* [Tweet][9]
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* Advertisement
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![][16]
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Related Video
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### [Kim Jong-il's son is an Eric Clapton fan][18]
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16 Feb 2011
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[![South Korean forces storm hijacked ship][19] ][20]
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### [South Korean forces storm hijacked ship][20]
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21 Jan 2011
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[![Kim Jong Il][21] ][22]
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### [Kim Jong Il and heir apparent make rare appearance][22]
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06 Jan 2011
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[![A growing group of North Korean dissidents are risking their lives to
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secretly film inside the repressive regime before smuggling the tapes across
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the Chinese border to show the outside world what is happening to their
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countrymen. ][23] ][24]
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### [Inside North Korea - exclusive][24]
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28 Nov 2010
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[![North Korea broadcasts propaganda response to Yeonpyeong Island
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shelling][25] ][26]
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### [N Korea airs propaganda response to shelling][26]
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23 Nov 2010
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[![South Korea's Yeonpueong Island is engulfed in thick smoke as North Korea
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reportedly fired hundreds of rounds of artillery ][27] ][28]
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### [Amateur footage of attack on Yeonpyeong][28]
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23 Nov 2010
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[Follow The Telegraph on Social Media »][34]
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Like Telegraph.co.uk on Facebook
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[1]: /news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8221723/North-Korea-warns-of-holy-war-
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using-nuclear-weapons.html
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[2]: /news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8221155/North-Korea-declare-Kim-Jong-
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uns-birthday-a-public-holiday.html
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politician-human-scum.html
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live-fire-exercise-close-to-border.html
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[5]: #
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%0A%0Ahttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/8220912/South-
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visit www.telegraph.co.uk
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