TENSION is running high on the Korean peninsula following the shooting by suspected North Korean agents of a North Korean defector at his home near the South Korean capital, Seoul. South Korea president, Mr Kim Young-sam, yesterday warned of more violence to come.
The incident follows (and might be linked to) the apparent defection in Beijing of a high ranking North Korean official, who entered a South Korean embassy building in Beijing on Tuesday and has not been seen since.
Chinese troops and police placed steel spikes across the road leading to the mission on Saturday to keep at a distance angry North Korean diplomats, who allege that the official, Mr Hwang Jang Yop (73), has been kidnapped.
The defector shot near Seoul is Mr Li Il-nam. He is a nephew by marriage of the North Korean leader, Mr Kim Jong Il, who yesterday celebrated his 55th birthday in Pyongyang with a fireworks display.
The South Korean cabinet met in emergency session yesterday to discuss the implications of the shooting. It was the first time a North Korean defector has been shot in the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Afterwards, as police manned checkpoints around the capital President Kim Young-sam warned of a threat of further violence from North Korea to prevent Mr Hwang from going to Seoul.
Mr Li Il-nam (36) was in critical condition after being shot outside his home on Saturday by two men armed with Belgian made Browning pistols. Police said he uttered the words, "Spy, spy" before losing consciousness. Mr Li defected to South Korean the early 1980s after studying in Europe he came out of hiding last year.
The attack took place as China's leaders tried to decide what to do with Mr Hwang, a member of the secretariat of the North's ruling Workers Party. His presence in the consulate has strained BeijingSeoul ties, which have been improving in recent years.
Trade between China and South Korea is worth $19.6 billion a year, compared to $566 million between Beijing and Pyongyang.
But the incident has badly strained relations between North Korea and China, its old Korean War ally. China has a long standing agreement to hand back any North Korean defectors. Beijing's communist comrades would be furious if Mr Hwang were to be allowed to go to Seoul and reveal secrets about North Korea.
China has been embarrassed by South Korea publicising Mr Hwang's action. The opposition National Congress for New Politics accused Mr Kim of using the incident to distract the public's attention from a domestic financial scandal. However Mr Kim might have wished to prevent China sending him back to North Korea before anyone knew what was happening.
Police roadblocks have kept North Korean officials about 200 metres from the mission holding Mr Hwang. An armoured car with steel helmeted troops and a water cannon truck have been placed near the entrance.
Yesterday evening diplomatic sedans with the distinctive "133" North Korean number plates were parked at every roadway to the embassy building.
A young North Korean man watching the scene through binoculars, who identified himself as a student, said that Mr Hwang had been kidnapped. A photograph published in Seoul showing the alleged defector relaxing inside was a fake. "This is almost the 21st century, they can do anything now with technology," the student said.
"I am waiting for him [Hwang] to make an explanation. We just want a chance to see him. We are determined to prevent them from taking him to the South."
Police and television crews settled in for what could be a lengthy stand off.
Mr Hwang, an architect of North Korea's self reliance ideology known as "Juche", was reported to be insisting on going to Seoul. "I will die here if my determination to go to South Korea cannot be realised," he said in a statement carrying his name released by South Korea.
Over the weekend South Korea toned down its triumphal statements after a meeting between its Foreign Minister, Mr Yoo Chongha, and his Chinese counterpart, Mr Qian Qichen, in Singapore on Friday, at which Mr Qian appealed for calm.
Birthday celebrations for the "Dear Leader", as Mr Kim Jong Il is known in North Korea, had been intended to smooth his formal accession to supreme power later this year as party secretary and president, following his father, Kim Il sung.
. The North Korean defector now in Seoul's Beijing embassy has told a US intelligence official that six or seven senior North Korean figures plan to flee the Stalinist nation, Seoul state radio said early today. Mr Hwang Jang yop told an official from the CIA that six to seven officials from Pyongyang's ruling Workers' Party wanted to seek political asylum. South Korean officials said they were unaware of the move.