WORLD BRIEFING
North Korea said today that it was scrapping all accords with South Korea, the latest in a series of verbal attacks on its neighbor. The statement focused largely on a basic accord the two Koreas struck in 1991 that analysts said the North might feel inadequately reflects its position on disputed ocean waters.
Other deals were reached during a brief period of detente after a summit between North and South Korea in June 2000, which led to reunions of separated families, communication systems to defuse military tensions, and rail and road links across the heavily armed border. Impoverished North Korea has bridled at the hard-line policy of the year-old conservative government in the South that ended a free flow of unconditional aid.
One analyst said the rise in tension increased the chances of a military clash.
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