Diplomats not heeding Pyongyang's warning

AFP / RSS

A North Korean official checking the passports of a group of foreign diplomats and tourists as they board a flight to Beijing at the airport in Pyongyang, on Saturday.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

Most foreign missions in Nkorea say it's a ruse to ratchet up more tension in the region

SEOUL: Foreign diplomats in North Korea appeared to be staying put today, ignoring a warning by Pyongyang that they should consider evacuating their missions amid soaring nuclear tensions.

Pyongyang had informed embassies it could not guarantee their

safety if a conflict broke out as concerns grew that the isolated state was preparing a missile launch.

But most of their governments made it clear they had no immediate plans to withdraw personnel, and some suggested the advisory was a ruse to fuel growing global anxiety over the current crisis on the Korean peninsula.

“The security of the German embassy and its exposure to danger are continually being evaluated,” the German foreign ministry said in a statement. “For now, the embassy can continue working.”

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman, commenting on the North’s advisory, said: “We believe they have taken this step as part of their country’s rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them.”

The head of EU missions in Pyongyang had been scheduled to meet today, but Britain said it was a routine gathering and no major decision was expected.

In South Korea, a government official was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying diplomats would ignore the North’s appeal to leave.

“Most foreign governments view the North Korean message as a way of ratcheting up tension on the Korean peninsula,” the official said.

Western tourists returning from organised tours in Pyongyang — which have continued despite the tensions — said the situation on the ground appeared calm, with life going on as normal. “We’re glad to be back but we didn’t feel frightened when we were there,” said Tina Krabbe, from Denmark, arriving in Beijing after five days in the North.

The embassy warning yesterday coincided with reports that North Korea had loaded two intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast.

“The North is apparently intent on firing the missiles without prior warning,” the South’s Yonhap news agency quoted a senior government official as saying.

They were reported to be untested Musudan missiles which are believed to have a range of around 3,000 kilometres that could theoretically be pushed to 4,000 kilometres with a light payload. That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said yesterday that Washington “would not be surprised” by a missile test, which would fit the North’s “current pattern of bellicose, unhelpful and unconstructive rhetoric and actions”.

North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions and South Korea-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.

The North has no proven inter-continental ballistic missile capability that would enable it to strike more distant US targets, and many experts say it is unlikely it can even mount a nuclear warhead on a mid-range missile. Nevertheless, the international community is becoming increasingly skittish that there is a real risk of the situation spiralling out of control.