N KOREA: North Korea issued threats against its southern neighbour over a border incident but made no mention of a planned nuclear test as China and Japan expressed joint concern yesterday over Pyongyang's nuclear intentions.
The reclusive Stalinist state warned of catastrophic consequences if South Korea's military engaged in more "unforgivable military provocation" like a weekend skirmish at the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas.
South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said its soldiers fired warning shots on Saturday at five North Korean soldiers who had climbed over the military demarcation line despite several verbal warnings over loudspeakers.
But the North's KCNA news agency said: "This was an undisguised challenge against us and an unforgivable military provocation. It was only the high patience and self-control of our . . . soldiers that the incident did not spread to an armed clash on both sides."
KCNA said North Korean soldiers were carrying out normal military duties on its side of the border when South Korean guards fired 60 machinegun shots at them.
"The South's military authorities must not run wildly but instead deliberate on what catastrophic consequences will result from provocative acts at the frontlines where the militaries of both sides stand tensely against one another," it said.
Pyongyang's state-run media, however, ignored the topic of the nuclear test they announced last week would take place at an unspecified time. There had been speculation it might coincide with leader Kim Jong-il's ninth anniversary of taking power.
Instead, the media focused on effusive praise of Kim to mark the anniversary.
"The world admires the absolute power and greatness of our dear leader," KCNA quoted from a newspaper editorial.
But there was no word on the planned nuclear test, which the North said it had been goaded into by what it considers a US threat of nuclear war and economic sanctions.