N. Korea Warns of 'Physical Response' to US Drills

Exercises will be seen as 'hostile'
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 23, 2010 2:50 AM CDT
Updated Jul 23, 2010 7:50 AM CDT
N. Korea Warns of 'Physical Response' to US Drills
Ri Tong Il, center right, spokeman for North Korean Foreign Minister Park Ui Chun's delegation talks to the media during ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam, today.   (AP Photo/Na Son-Nguyen. Pool)

North Korea has threatened a "physical response" if the US and South Korea go ahead with planned naval exercises this weekend. Such action would be regarded as "another expression of hostile policy," said North Korean spokesman Ri Tong Il, who warned that "there will be physical response against the threat imposed by the United States militarily."

Tong said earlier that if the US "is really interested in the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula, it should halt the military exercises and sanctions that destroy the mood for dialogue." Tong made his comments at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in Hanoi. South Korean officials have characterized the drills as defensive training exercises, and said that new sanctions are not to avenge the recent South Korean warship sinking by North Korea, AP reports. There was no immediate response from the US.
(More Ri Tong II stories.)

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