Seoul Spy Agency: North Korea Plotting Terror Attack on South

A United States soldier stands guard near a US F-22 stealth fighter at the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south o …

The standoff with North Korea is not expected to ease soon, as Seoul and Washington are discussing deploying a sophisticated USA missile-defense system in South Korea that Pyongyang warns would be a source of regional tension.

“The combined nature of this flyover highlighted the high level of integration and interoperability between our two air forces, developed through decades of combined training”, says USAF Lt Col Nicholas Evans, commander of the Korea-based 36th Fighter Squadron, which operates F-16s.

Kim Jong-un has ordered North Korean military and intelligence chiefs to prepare to carry out terror attacks on South Korea, politicians in Seoul have said.

UN Security Council members remain divided over how to punish North Korea for its fourth nuclear test on January 6 and February 7 rocket launch, with China, one of five veto-wielding council members, reluctant to put crippling sanctions on North Korea.

South Korea is bracing for any possible terror attacks from North Korea, an official said Friday.

North Korea has a history of attacks against South Korea, but it is impossible to independently confirm what is really happening in the secretive North.

And Washington has strengthened military cooperation with its ally Tokyo.

The North’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, tasked with intelligence operations, is prepared for such disruptive acts, including terrorist attacks using poison or kidnapping South Koreans, it said.

The U.S. military would not say how long the F-22s will be deployed in South Korea.

A joint military exercise between South Korea and the U.S. next month has been amped up in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, the South’s defence minister said on Thursday.

A man watches a television news program reporting about North Korea’s recent rocket launch at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea. The launch was widely condemned as a ballistic missile test banned under United Nations resolutions.

The government in Seoul is telling South Koreans not to eat at the North Korean-run restaurants found in many cities around the world.

In a speech at parliament, President Park Geun-hye said South Korea will take unspecified “stronger and more effective” measures to make North Korea realize its nuclear ambitions will result only in accelerating its “regime collapse”. The North says the drills are preparation to stage a northward invasion. Opponents say the system could help USA radar spot missiles in other countries.