NKorea in 'state of war': Pyongyang issues third threat, lists Guam as target

NKorea in 'state of war': Pyongyang issues third threat, lists Guam as target   Written by Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno Pacific Sunday News   Mar. 31, 2013

 

North Korea entered a "state of war" with South Korea yesterday following a United States bomber training mission in South Korea.

The declaration is the latest in a series of escalating tensions between the north and south.

On Friday, North Korea issued threat No. 3 -- in a little more than a week -- making specific mention of Guam and Hawaii as possible targets of a missile attack.

The first threat followed the start of joint exercises between U.S. and South Korean forces in South Korea. The second threat was made after B-52s launched from Guam and flew over South Korean skies to practice bombing a target range. The latest threat, issued Friday, occurred after the flyover of U.S. B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea, according to The Associated Press.

U.S. defense officials said the B-2 flights were part of military training with South Korea, but North Korea's government news agency called it "dangerous provocation."

Yesterday, the AP reported that North Korea will deal with South Korean matters according to "wartime regulations."

However, officials from both the United States and South Korea have said a full-scale conflict is still not likely to happen.

Seoul officials told The Associated Press that South Korean workers have continued to cross the border into the north to their jobs at a North Korean factory park funded by the south.

Threat called a bluff

And residents on this island also shouldn't lose sleep over the threats, according to a Hawaii-based expert.

Denny Roy, a senior fellow at the think tank East West Center in Honolulu, who's an expert on North Korea issues, said he doesn't think the threats would be carried out.

"Fundamentally, I think they are a bluff," Roy said, adding North Korea doesn't intend to strike Guam, Hawaii or the U.S. mainland.

While North Korea does have "an image of being crazy or irrational," Roy said the North Korean regime does realize that if it attacks the United States or a U.S. ally, such as South Korea, the attack would prompt retaliation that would destroy North Korea.

North Korea doesn't want to start an attack that would lead to its destruction, Roy said.

"I don't see (the threats) as a signal of precisely what North Korea wants to do; it's a way of North Korea expressing its extreme displeasure of the situation," Roy said.

Exercises criticized

North Korea's government news agency has strongly criticized the military exercises involving the U.S. and South Korean forces.

North Korea also is under economic sanctions by the international community for pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

Nuclear weapons

North Korea wants to reopen negotiations with the United States and be recognized as a nuclear weapons state, Roy said.

The United States wants North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program, so both sides are far apart in their divide, Roy said.

"(North Korea's leaders) want guarantees of non-threatening posture from the U.S. and the South Korean side," Roy said.

In a recent paper, Roy suggested that, as an equalizer, South Korea be allowed to develop a nuclear-armed missile program that "will match North Korea's progress step by step."

Under this idea, Roy said "Seoul will commit to halting and shelving its program if North Korea does the same."

Roy suggests the United States exempt South Korea from the U.S. policy on nuclear nonproliferation "as a law-abiding state ... threatened by a rogue state -- in this case North Korea."

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday said the United States is taking North Korea's threats seriously.

In the event that a conflict does break out and affects Guam, local emergency responders have said they're ready.

Gov. Eddie Calvo has urged the community to remain calm and has assured residents that the island is protected from any possible attack. Calvo spoke with Adm. Tilghman Payne, the commander of Joint Region Marianas, earlier this week about the North Korea situation.

"We are in close communication with each other and with the Pentagon," the governor said. "We assure the people of Guam and other American communities in this region that we are adequately protected from an unlikely attack from North Korea. These threats should not distract from our day-to-day lives."

Shelter in place

If a North Korean threat ever were to materialize, Calvo has said, the U.S. Pacific Command would alert Guam, defense systems would be engaged immediately and a series of steps to protect the public would be relayed through the media and the island's emergency alert system.

In a situation involving radioactive fallout and mass casualties, residents may be urged to "shelter in place," according to Guam Homeland Security.

Sheltering in place means selecting a small, interior room, with no or few windows, and taking refuge there. It doesn't mean sealing off your entire home or office building, according to Homeland Security.

Homeland Security posted tips on how to shelter-in-place, which can be found at www.GuamPDN.com.

"We encourage residents to review these tips if they want to remain informed about how to react to radioactive exposure, but again, this vigilance should not be replaced by fear and anxiety," Calvo has said