World IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON : Perry Calls N. Korea Action ‘Provocative’

Defense Secretary William J. Perry said Pyongyang’s dispatch of troops into the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea is “a provocative political action” that violates standing agreements. During an appearance at Howard University, he spoke of anxiety that North Korea might behave “in some sort of irrational way” toward the zone, which it has entered three times since Friday. But Perry noted that North Korean soldiers have engaged in no hostile activity, and the White House and State Department stressed that the incursions do not constitute an increased threat.