A North Korean diplomat today said war on the Korean peninsula could begin at any time over accusations that the government in Pyongyang ordered the sinking of a South Koran warship.
“The present situation is so grave that a war may break out at any moment,” Ri Jang Gon, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to United Nations offices in Geneva told a conference on nuclear disarmament there, according to a text of his remarks provided by the UN.
He said South Korea’s accusation was the “sheer fabrication” of “authorities who are in desperate need of creating a shocking incident” to block North Korea’s development.
South Korea has blamed North Korea for the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors. The two nations have traded accusations and threats of military retaliation since an international panel that included experts from the U.S. Australia, the U.K. and Sweden concluded that the North was behind the sinking.
Threats of war by North Korea carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency are common. A March 26 report warned of “unprecedented nuclear strikes” against enemies while a June 9, 2009, bulletin warned of “merciless strikes” using the country’s nuclear deterrent.
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