China yesterday warned against “troublemaking” on its doorstep, in an apparent rebuke to North Korea, and the United States said it was postponing a missile test to help calm high tension on the divided Korean peninsula.
Any aggression is a threat to the interests of every country in the region
The North, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, has been issuing vitriolic threats of war against the United States and US-backed South Korea since the United Nations imposed sanctions in response to its third nuclear weapon test in February.
Pyongyang’s anger appears heightened by US-South Korean joint military exercises. But most analysts say it has no intention of starting a conflict that would bring its own destruction and instead is out to wring concessions from a nervous international community.
The North told diplomats late last week to consider leaving Pyongyang because of the tension, but embassies appeared to view the appeal as more rhetoric and staff have stayed put.
South Korea said it was ready for any kind of action that the North’s unpredictable leaders might make by Wednesday, after which the North said it could not guarantee diplomats’ safety.
China, North Korea’s sole financial and diplomatic backer, has shown growing irritation with Pyongyang’s warnings of nuclear war. Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressing a forum on the southern island of Hainan, did not name North Korea but said no country “should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain”.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, addressing the Hainan forum, said avoiding conflict on the peninsula was vital.
“There, any aggression is a threat to the interests of every country in the region,” she said.
British Foreign Minister William Hague said North Korea’s nuclear ambitions had to be taken seriously.
Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry offered to mediate, saying it was “always willing to help find a solution, if this is the wish of the parties, such as hosting meetings between them”. Kim, the third member of his dynasty to rule North Korea, is thought to have spent several years in Switzerland being educated under a pseudonym.
In Washington, a defence official said a long-scheduled test of the Minuteman III intercontinental missile, due to take place at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, would be postponed.
“This test ... has been delayed to avoid any misperception or miscalculation in light of recent tensions on the Korean peninsula,” the official said on Saturday.
North Korean state television showed a military training session, with soldiers putting dogs through their paces, including one seen tearing to pieces an effigy of South Korean Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin. Soldiers were shown firing at pictures of the minister and a depiction of a US serviceman.
“As you all know, on the Korean peninsula, it is not a matter of whether we will have a war or not, but whether it will take place today or tomorrow,” an unidentified soldier said.
“This is a situation like being on the eve of a big explosion. Every minute, every second counts. We are right now set to march, once the order is given.”