Escalation of the Korean crisis

N. Korea says it has final approval for nuclear attack on US

RT,

3 April, 2013

North Korean army says it has final approval for nuclear attack on the US, the official KCNA news agency says. This comes shortly after the Pentagon said the US military prepares to deploy an advanced missile-defense system to Guam.

"Merciless operation of its revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified," a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, according to the statement released by state KCNA news agency.

"We formally inform the White House and Pentagon that the ever-escalating US hostile policy toward the DPRK and its reckless nuclear threat will be smashed by the strong will of all the united service personnel and people."

This comes after Pentagon said the US military prepares to deploy an advanced missile-defense system to Guam to defend American military bases in the Pacific as a "precaution" following North Korea threats.

The DoD has announced that top defense officials approved the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, or THAAD, which includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles, a AN/TPY-2 tracking radar and an integrated fire control system, Reuters reports.

"The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and stands ready to defend US territory, our allies, and our national interests," a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

It has been stressed that the future deployment of the system is for protecting American interests in the region and will not reach South Korea’s territory.

The Pentagon said the batteries, which according to advocates will cost up to $800 million per battery, will be deployed in the coming weeks; however, no exact date was given, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Pentagon initially considered the deployment of the first of the batteries in 2015, however, recently escalated tensions and threats from North Korea have influenced the plans, forcing the Defense Department to rethink its intentions.

The United States sees a "real and clear" danger from North Korea, given its nuclear and missile capabilities and bellicose rhetoric, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said earlier Wednesday, shortly before the Pentagon's statement.

North Korea has recently threatened to target US and South Korea following new UN sanctions and joint military drills by the two allies.

Guam has become the most important US military base in Asia, housing its major airfield and an incoming contingent of US Marines.

North Korea shuts South Koreans out of joint factory

North Korea has told Seoul it is banning access to their Kaesong joint industrial park but says South Koreans in the complex would be allowed to leave.

Radio NZ,

4 April, 2013

"The North this morning notified us that it will only allow returning trips from Kaesong and will ban trips to the complex," Unification Ministry spokesperson Kim Hyung-Suk told reporters on Wednesday.

Mr Kim says the North had not specified how long the ban would remain in effect, AFP reports.

Describing the North's move as "very regrettable", Kim said his government's first priority was the safety of the estimated 861 of its citizens currently in Kaesong.

"We expect our people currently in the North to return safely."

The industrial complex, which lies 10 kilometres inside North Korea, was established in 2004 as a symbol of cross-border cooperation

North Korea has always been wary of allowing crises in inter-Korean relations to affect the zone - a crucial hard-currency earner for the communist state, says AFP.

The latest North Korean move fits into a cycle of escalating tensions that prompted United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon to warn on Tuesday that the situation had "gone too far" as the United States vowed to defend itself and regional ally South Korea.

It was not immediately clear if the blocked movement was permanent, but the Unification Ministry stressed that plants in Kaesong were running normally, reports AFP.

"We are waiting, unable to leave," Kim Dong-kyu, a company manager currently in Kaesong told the YTN news channel. "We don't know the situation well but I'm not particularly worried."

The last time the border crossing was blocked was March 2009 in protest at a major US-South Korean military exercise. It reopened a day later.