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S. Korea Fears More Tension if War Occurs
Tue Mar 18, 1:01 PM ET

By SANG-HUN CHOE, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea (news - web sites)'s prime minister warned Tuesday that high tensions over North Korea (news - web sites)'s nuclear programs could rise further with an outbreak of war in Iraq (news - web sites).

With the United States focused on Baghdad, experts say North Korea might use the opportunity to cause alarm across the heavily guarded border with South Korea in an attempt to force Washington into direct negotiations.


North Korea's tactics could include missile launches, border skirmishes or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel for atomic bombs, experts say.


The threat is even more worrying to the South because its economy is feeling the effects of the standoff with the North.


In recent days, the South Korean central bank governor has warned of the economic challenges posed by North Korea, and officials have met with global credit agencies, including Moody's, to keep Seoul's sovereign debt rating from being cut.


South Korea's economy is far better off than it was during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, but the stock market is down 14 percent since the year started and the won has slumped to five-month lows.


"A resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue in the shortest time is urgent and pivotal for the future improvement of the South Korean economy," said Lee Sangjae, senior economist at Hyundai Securities Research Center in Seoul.


South Korean Prime Minister Goh Kun instructed Cabinet ministers Tuesday to ensure stability on the peninsula, after President Bush (news - web sites) gave Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) a 48-hour deadline to flee his country or face a U.S.-led invasion.


"Tensions are rising on the Korean Peninsula because of the North Korean nuclear issue," Goh said. "A war against Iraq could have the effect of escalating the tensions."


To guard against possible terrorist attacks, South Korea said it will tighten security in ports and airports as well as at U.S. diplomatic and military facilities.


The U.S. military keeps 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea as a deterrent against the North and currently is staging major joint exercises with South Korean forces.


North Korea again criticized the drills as a rehearsal for invasion.


"The U.S. reckless war exercises are an escalation of its aggressive and adventurous military actions against the (North) to seek a military solution to the nuclear issue," said the North's official news agency KCNA.


North Koreans "are fully ready to go into action to wipe out the aggressors," it added.


Yang Hyong Sop, vice president of the Presidium of the North's Supreme People's Assembly, said "U.S. moves" made the current situation on the peninsula the worst since the Korean War cease-fire. He also urged all Koreans to unite and push the American troops from South Korea, according to KCNA.


A Foreign Ministry spokesman also said Japan's plan to launch two spy satellites into orbit this month "poses a grave threat" to the North that could be construed as releasing it from a vow not to test long-range missiles. That vow was contained in a joint declaration issued by the two countries' leaders in Pyongyang last September.


North Korea "is the only country to which Japan is hostile among its neighbors," the spokesman told KCNA.





In Beijing, an envoy for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) said the threat of war in the Persian Gulf underscores the need for peaceful dialogue between Washington and North Korea. Washington wants to resolve the issue through talks involving other countries.

"As one conflict is about to begin in the Middle East, my job is to try and ensure that the Korean situation does not have the same result," said Maurice Strong, who is on his way to Pyongyang to meet North Korean leaders.

Strong said he saw no reason to believe North Korea and the United States are headed for military confrontation.

The Korean nuclear crisis flared in October, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted having a secret nuclear weapons program.