N. Korea fires missiles as S. Korea, U.S. start military drills

The missiles, presumed to be Scud-Cs with a range of some 490 kilometers, were launched from the western port city of Nampo between 6:32 a.m. and 6:41 a.m., according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. The ballistic missile firings, which were the first since July 26 of last year, were condemned by ministry spokesman Kim Min Seok as "a clear violation of resolutions adopted at the United Nations" and as "an intentional and provocative show of force." "North Korea's threatening behavior and actions pose really serious challenges to the security on the Korean Peninsula," he said at a press briefing. Warning Pyongyang against further provocations, the spokesman said the South Korean military is ready "to sternly respond with military actions." To better cope with the heightened tensions, he said, South Korean and U.S. forces have stepped up surveillance of the North's military movements. In Tokyo, the Japanese government said it has lodged a strong protest with North Korea through diplomatic channels. Speaking to reporters, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida denounced North Korea's move as infringing on U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban it from any launch using ballistic missile technology. It also runs counter to accords at the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Kishida said. China, North Korea's most important ally, meanwhile, called for restraint. "All sides should do more to relieve the tension of the situation and safeguard regional peace and stability," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing in Beijing. The Key Resolve exercise, which will last until March 13, will involve about 10,000 South Korean and 8,600 American troops. The Foal Eagle exercise, which will last until April 24, will mobilize about 200,000 South Korean and 3,700 American troops, mostly from overseas. The U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command said the Fort Worth, a 3,450-ton Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the U.S. Navy, will take part in the Key Resolve drill. Each year, prior to the joint exercises, North Korea has demanded that the United States and South Korea not hold them and issued threats of retaliation. North Korea's army condemned the joint exercises as "dangerous nuclear war drills for invading" the country in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency ahead of the missile firings. "The only means to cope with the aggression and war by the U.S. imperialists and their followers is neither dialogue nor peace," a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in a statement issued Sunday. "They should be dealt with only by merciless strikes." On Monday, an unnamed spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry also released a statement saying that the exercises are "intolerable aggression moves" and this year have "a more provocative nature than ever before." In January, North Korea proposed to impose a moratorium on its nuclear tests if the United States scraps the exercises with South Korea. It has argued that the United States ruined its "sincere efforts" to create a more peaceful environment on and around the Korean Peninsula. Source: Kyodo