297 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
297 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
news
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worldnews
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asia
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northkorea
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8161662
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-----
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# US 'bringing Korean peninsula to brink of war'
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## America is bringing the Korean peninsula "to the brink of war" North Korea
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warned on Friday as tension continues to build ahead of a four-day US-South
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Korean joint war game that starts this weekend.
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![Destroyed houses are pictured following artillery exchange between North and
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South Korea in Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea][1]
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Destroyed houses are pictured following artillery exchange between North and
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South Korea in Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea Photo: GETTY
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[![Peter Foster][2]][3]
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Beijing 9:10AM GMT 26 Nov 2010
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[Follow Peter Foster on Twitter][4]
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The latest broadside from the regime of Kim Jong-il was issued as a US carrier
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battle group led by the nuclear-powered USS George Washington steamed towards
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the Yellow Sea in a show of deterrent force to Pyongyang.
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"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war,"
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warned a dispatch from the Korean Central News Agency said. "Gone are the days
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when verbal warnings are served only." All morning North Korean state
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television and radio blared out martial music interspersed with official
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statements about the shelling of South Korean's Yeonpyeong Island on Tuesday
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which left four people dead and destroyed houses and parts of a military base.
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In a further show of US solidarity with Seoul, Gen. Walter Sharp, the US
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military commander in South Korea, visited the shelled island, touring burned
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buildings and stating again that the attack was a violation of the ceasefire
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that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
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The US confirmed that Sunday's joint exercise would go ahead regardless of
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warnings from Beijing that the war games risk further destabilising an already
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volatile Korean peninsular.
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"The exercises will be held on Sunday as planned and the George Washington is
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on its way here to arrive on Sunday," confirmed a spokesman for US Forces
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Korea.
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## Related Articles
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* [North Korea: 'artillery fire' heard near South Korean island][5]
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26 Nov 2010
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* [Sarah Palin in Korea gaffe][6]
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25 Nov 2010
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* [China criticises US and South Korean war games][7]
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25 Nov 2010
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* [North Korea threatens more attacks][8]
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25 Nov 2010
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* [US urges China to act over North Korea][9]
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25 Nov 2010
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In South Korea, President Lee Myung-bak appointed his security adviser Lee
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Hee-Won as his new defence minister following the resignation of the previous
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minister who was heavily criticised over South Korea's allegedly slow response
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to the North's aggression.
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Although President Lee promised not to "escalate" the situation in the
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immediate aftermath of the attack, his government has faced a barrage of
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criticism in the media over its failure to respond more harshly, including not
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ordering air strikes against the North's artillery.
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As tension mounted, there were open diplomatic divisions between China and the
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US over how to handle North Korea's belligerence, with officials in Washington
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confirming that President Obama would be speaking with his Chinese counterpart
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Hu Jintao in coming days.
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China has refused to condemn the attack, a move which was met with anger in
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Seoul, particularly after China cancelled a visit of its foreign minister Yang
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Jiechi to the South Korea capital at the last minute on Thursday.
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China, as North Korea's only international ally, is facing growing calls from
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the US, South Korea, Japan, and Australia to use its influence with Pyongyang,
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but has so far apparently resisted the calls, only urging on both sides,
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equally, to show restraint.
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Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, a fluent Chinese speaker who has good
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relations with Beijing, was the latest leader to weigh in, asking China to
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"step up to the plate" over North Korea, following a telephone conversation
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with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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"This question goes to the heart of the political and security order of the
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world, [and] it's important, I believe, for China to step up to the plate," Mr
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Rudd told the Australia Network TV station late on Thursday.
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"I won't go to the detail of the diplomatic conversation [with Mrs Clinton],
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but I think it's fair to say that many of us are seeking to impress upon our
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friends in Beijing the importance of applying much more decisive pressure on
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the regime in Pyongyang," he said.
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"If the North Koreans continue to act in this provocative way, it's fair to
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ask the question, where does that all end in terms of South Korea's ability to
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simply continue to turn the other cheek," Mr Rudd said.
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"This, therefore, in terms of the stability of the Peninsula [and] the wider
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region, including China, means that China has a responsibility to speak very
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directly to their friends in Pyongyang."
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In a sign of the rising tensions, there was brief panic in the capital Seoul
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when television reported sounds of artillery fire near Yeonpyeong, the island
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which was shelled by the North on Tuesday, but a South Korean offical later
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said the artillery fire was distant and no shells landed in South Korean
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territory. The South's official Yonhap news agency said it appeared to be a
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North Korean drill.
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South Korea's normally resilient financial markets also appeared to be feeling
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the rising pressure ahead of Sunday's exercises with South Korean currency,
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the won down as much as 2.2 percent while the stock market closed 1.3 percent
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down. "Investors are growing more jittery ahead of the joint military
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exercise," said Kim Hyoung-ryoul, a market analyst at NH Investment &
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Securities. "The key concern is, whether North Korea will again take
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unforeseen, rash actions."
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][11]
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* Share: [Share][10] [ ][12] [ ][13]
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[Tweet][14]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8161662/US-bringing-
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Korean-peninsula-to-brink-of-war.html
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Telegraph
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## [North Korea][15]
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* ### [News »][16]
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* ### [World News »][17]
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* ### [Asia »][18]
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* ### [South Korea »][19]
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* ### [Peter Foster »][3]
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In news
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[![One of North Korea's Kim Jong-il's palatial mansions from Google Earth][20]
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][21]
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### [North Korea from above][21]
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[![Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Un][22] ][23]
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### [Keeping it in the family][23]
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[![South Korea holds large live-fire drills ][24] ][25]
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### [South Korea holds large live-fire drills][25]
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[![Soldiers from a South Korean army armoured division take part in an annual
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river-crossing exercise against a possible attack from North Korea on the Han
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river in Yeoju][26] ][27]
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### [Timeline: North Korea's conflict with the South][27]
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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. ][28] ][29]
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### [Inside North Korea - exclusive][29]
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[X][10] 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?][11]
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Share:
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* [ ][10]
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* [ ][12]
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* [ ][13]
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* [Tweet][14]
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* Advertisement
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![][30]
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Advertisement
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[Follow The Telegraph on Social Media »][31]
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Like Telegraph.co.uk on Facebook
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