Koreas Place Troops on Alert as Tension Rises

The rival Koreas placed their troops on high alert, sparking fear Saturday that nuclear disputes might shatter peace on the divided peninsula. One report said the north was massing troops on its borders.

Communist North Korea, after balking at international inspections of two secret sites, said Friday that it was withdrawing from an international nuclear control accord.

The hard-line Pyongyang government insists its nuclear program is peaceful, but the abrupt announcement was seen as a bid to stave off further nuclear inspections. Intelligence reports have said signs point to an effort by the north to make atomic weapons.

Pyongyang’s move to abandon the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it joined in 1985, was met with criticism from around the world. A number of nations called on North Korea to reconsider, including South Korea.

The north invaded its southern rival in 1950, starting a three-year war that left millions of casualties on both sides. The Koreas are still technically at war, since no peace treaty was signed.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its 650,000 troops were on high alert, a status used only in times of extreme tension. North Korea said earlier that its 1.1 million troops were on a semi-war footing.

Seoul’s national Joongang Daily News, quoting unidentified high-level sources, said Communist troops had advanced to front-line positions along the borders with South Korea, China and Russia.

The border areas are inaccessible to civilians, and the reports could not be independently confirmed.

The last time northern troops massed on the borders was in 1983, after North Korean terrorists tried to assassinate the South Korean president and instead killed 18 South Korean officials.

North Korea on Saturday did accept an earlier proposal by the south for a border meeting this week to arrange the return of a North Korean captured in the war. Western observers said the agreement likely did not reflect an easing of tensions but rather Pyongyang’s desire for the return of Li In Mo, 76, who was convicted as a North Korean guerrilla.