N.Korea drops threats against S.Korea

North Korea has hedged its threat to forcefully retaliate in response to South Korea live-fire war games on an island shelled by North Korean artillery last month.

Ahead of the exercise, the North Korean official news agency KCNA said the “intensity and scope” of its retaliation would be much worse if Seoul went ahead with its one-day live-fire drills on Yeonpyeong Island.

The threat heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula and may put even more pressure on China to rein in its client state. But once the drill took place, North Korea climbed down from its threat, saying South Korea’s drill were “not worth” a response.

The announcement followed a visit by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson who praised North Korea for reacting “in a statesman like manner,” expressing hope also that Pyongyang’s proposal to allow international inspectors to visit a newly unveiled uranium-enrichment facility would “signal a new chapter and a round of dialogue to lessen tension on the Korean Peninsula.”

Although the Korean War ended in 1953, the two countries haven’t signed a peace agreement, remaining divided by one of the world’s most fortified borders.

Relations between North and South have soured since the Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, which North Korea claims its own, although it has been internationally recognized as part of South Korea.

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