[Tryphadz]

N.Korea declares combat alert over warship probe
Posted: 25 May 2010 1255 hrs
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The wreckage of the salvaged South Korean warship that sank near the maritime border with North Korea, killing 46


SEOUL : North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il ordered troops and civil organisations on combat alert after South Korea accused his country of sinking a warship, a defector group said Tuesday.

Seoul-based North Korea Intellectual Solidarity (NKIS) said the alert order was issued last Thursday evening, the day a multinational investigation team in Seoul announced its findings into the sinking of the Cheonan on March 26.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service said it was checking the report by the defector group. The North denies involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan with the loss of 46 lives. It says the allegations are a plot by the United States and South Korea to spark conflict.

The communist state has threatened "all-out war" in response to any moves to punish it. NKIS said vice minister of national defence O Kuk-Ryol announced through a fixed radio channel that Kim had ordered a combat alert.

"America and South Korea are in a frenzy for revenge against us by linking us to the Cheonan incident. This is a conspiracy by America, Japan and South Korea to isolate us and kill us," NKIS quoted the minister as saying, citing a source in the North.

The source was quoted as saying that the ruling party ordered organisations to stage mass rallies under the slogan "Revenge for revenge, war for war". Security service members and reservists were told to wear uniform to raise their spirits, the source said.

Kim Dae-Sung, a leader of NKIS, said it was exceptional for uniforms to be worn and for Kim to order a combat alert for members of the public. "Our sources said people are feeling insecure due to the broadcast," he told AFP. - AFP/jy