North threatens Korean armistice

North Korea threatened yesterday to abandon the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, accusing the United States of plotting a pre-emptive attack on the communist state.

A spokesman of the North Korean People's Army said that America was building up reinforcements around the Korean Peninsula in preparations to launch an attack.

The threat came as the US and South Korea said they will holdjoint military exercises next month. Washington says they are purely defensive but it is feared the manoeuvres will only increase tensions with North Korea in its nuclear stand-off with the US.

The exercises will start on 4 March and last a month. Their centrepiece will be a mock battle to test the ability of South Korea's command structure to receive and integrate reinforcements. The manoeuvres will include the deployment of an American aircraft carrier group around the Korean peninsula.

Ostensibly, the exercises are similar to those held every year and have nothing to do with the crisis over North Korea's alleged pursuit of atomic weapons. Washington fears the secretive regime in Pyongyang may build as many as six nuclear devices in the next few months.

A US defence official quoted by a South Korean news agency said the scale of the exercises this year has been reduced. But they still send the message that, despite the preparations for war with Iraq, the US military remains capable of conducting two large regional wars.

America has also agreed to conduct tests with Japan to intercept ballistic missiles, according to the Japanese press. Both moves follow last week's decision by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer Pyongyang to the Security Council for violating non-proliferation accords.