WASHINGTON - THE US State Department on Thursday chided North Korea for its 'belligerent tricks,' saying it wanted 'constructive actions' and not 'heated rhetoric' from the communist state.
'Unfortunately, North Korea is back to its old belligerent tricks. We need constructive actions, not heated rhetoric,' spokesman Philip Crowley said in a message on the micro-blogging website Twitter.
His remarks came after Pyongyang said it was ready for a 'sacred war' using its nuclear weapons as the South held a live-fire drill in a show of strength a month after the North's deadly attack on a border island.
The threat came after South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, visiting a frontline army unit elsewhere, warned of severe retaliation in the event of a new attack by the North.
The South's military was heavily criticised for a perceived feeble response to last month's bombardment which killed four people including civilians, and has since been stressing its battle-readiness.
The South says its drills are defensive. But tensions have been high on the peninsula since the North shelled Yeonpyeong island near the contested western sea border on Nov 23. -- AFP
0 Comments:
Post a Comment