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The Latest on Koreas: Talks stretch into a third day

August 21, 2015

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The latest on the tensions on the Korean Peninsula (all times local):

07:51 a.m. (3:51 p.m. PT)

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Marathon negotiations by senior officials from the Koreas stretched into a third day on Monday as the rivals tried to pull back from the brink. South Korea’s military, meanwhile, said that unusual North Korean troop and submarine movement indicated continued battle preparation.

Officials refused to discuss the talks, which started Saturday evening and whose second session began Sunday evening and was still going Monday morning, but the diplomacy, for the time being, pushed aside previous heated warnings of imminent war.

South Korea said that even as the North was pursuing dialogue, its troops were preparing for a fight.

An official from Seoul’s Defense Ministry said that about 70 percent of the North’s more than 70 submarines and undersea vehicles had left their bases and were undetectable by the South Korean military as of Saturday.

The official, who refused to be named because of official rules, also said the North had doubled the strength of its front-line artillery forces since the start of the talks Saturday evening.

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10:15 a.m.

North Korean media have reported that more than 1 million young people have volunteered to join or rejoin the military to defend their country should a conflict break out with the rival South Korea and its U.S. ally.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency reports that “young people across the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are turning out in the sacred war for defending the country with their faith and will to annihilate the enemies.”

Despite such highly charged rhetoric in the media, which is itself not particularly unusual, activity in the capital remains normal and calm Sunday.

People in Pyongyang are going about their daily routines as usual.

Truckloads of soldiers singing martial songs can occasionally be seen driving around the city, and a single minivan with camouflage netting was parked near the main train station for a time as the talks with South Korea began Saturday and are set to resume later Sunday.

— Eric Talmadge, Pyongyang

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5:15 a.m.

South Korea’s presidential spokesman says the first-high-level talks in nearly a year between South Korea and North Korea have adjourned and will resume Sunday afternoon.

The rivals, who are trying to defuse mounting tensions that have pushed them to the brink of a possible military confrontation, began their meeting in the border village of Panmunjom at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Spokesman Min Kyung-wook said the meeting adjourned at 4:15 a.m. Sunday and the two delegations will resume talks at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT, 2 a.m. EDT). He did not disclose any other details about the talks.

The talks were held shortly after a Saturday deadline set by North Korea for the South to dismantle loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda at their border. North Korea had declared that its front-line troops were in full war readiness and prepared to go to battle if Seoul did not back down.

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1:15 a.m.

The first high-level talks in nearly a year between South Korea and North Korea have stretched into the early hours of Sunday.

An official from South Korea’s presidential Blue House said after midnight that the talks were still going on, and that the delegates were taking a break. Marathon talks are not unusual for the Koreas, who have had long negotiating sessions in recent years over much less momentous issues.

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6:50 p.m.

High-level talks between North Korea and South Korea have begun in an effort to defuse mounting tensions that have pushed the rivals to the brink of a possible military confrontation.

An official from South Korea’s Unification Ministry, who didn’t want to be named because of office rules, says Saturday’s talks are being held at the border village of Panmunjom.

The meeting comes after a Saturday deadline set by North Korea for South Korea to dismantle loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda at their border. North Korea has declared its front-line troops are in full war readiness and prepared to go to battle if Seoul doesn’t back down.

The South Korean presidential office said earlier that the country’s national security director, Kim Kwan-jin, and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo would sit down with Hwang Pyong So, the top political officer for the Korean People’s Army, and Kim Yang Gon, a senior North Korean official responsible for South Korean affairs. Hwang is considered by outside analysts to be North Korea’s second most important official after supreme leader Kim Jong Un.

3:30 p.m.

South Korean officials say they will hold talks with officials from North Korea on Saturday in a bid to defuse tensions.

The meeting will take place at the border village of Panmunjom at 6 p.m. Seoul time (0900 GMT), which is 30 minutes after the deadline set by Pyongyang for Seoul to to dismantle loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda.

According to the officials in Seoul, South Korean side will be represented by presidential national security adviser Kim Kwang-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, while North Korean side will be represented by senior officials Hwang Pyong So and Kim Yang Gon.

— Tong-hyung Kim, Seoul

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In Pyongyang, businesses are open as usual and street stalls selling ice cream are crowded as residents took breaks under parasols from the summer sun. There are no visible signs of increased security measures, though the city is even under normal situations heavily secured and fortified.

The North’s state-run media has strongly ratcheted up its rhetoric, saying the whole nation is bracing for the possibility of an all-out war. Leader Kim Jong Un has been shown repeatedly on TV news broadcasts leading a strategy meeting with the top military brass to review the North’s attack plan and young people are reportedly swarming to recruitment centers to sign up to join the fight.

People were willing to talk about the tension and, as is common in public in North Korea — officially called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — they voiced support for their government’s policies and their leader. They also used phrases like “puppet gangsters” to refer to South Korean authorities, as these are everyday terms in the North, in state media and conversation.

Said Pyongyang citizen Choe Sin Ae: “I think that the South Korean puppet gangsters should have the clear idea that thousands of our people and soldiers are totally confident in winning at any cost because we have our respected leader with us.”

— Eric Talmadge, Pyongyang

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Noon

South Korea has blocked access to a tourist observatory close to the border with North Korea, in response to escalating tensions between the two rivals.

The Dora Observatory looking across the Demilitarized Zone was shut down by security forces.

However, most South Koreans are going about their daily life and highway traffic is normal. North Korea also permitted more than 240 South Koreans to enter a jointly-run industrial complex at its border city of Kaesong on Saturday.

North Korea says it’s ready for an “all-out war” against South Korea as a 5:30 p.m. (0830 GMT) Saturday deadline approached set by Pyongyang for Seoul to dismantle loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda along their border.

On Thursday, South Korea fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border, saying North Korea had fired first to back up a threat to attack the loudspeakers.

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9 a.m.

The warning by North Korea’s Foreign Ministry came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday declared his front-line troops in a “quasi-state of war” and ordered them to prepare for battle. South Korea on Thursday fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border, saying North Korea had fired first to back up a threat to attack the loudspeakers.

In a statement carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, the Foreign Ministry says North Korean soldiers and people are “poised not to just counter-act or make any retaliation but not to rule out an all-out war to protect the social system, their own choice, at the risk of their lives.”

Seoul recently resumed the anti-Pyongyang border broadcasts for the first time in 11 years after it accused the North of planting land mines that maimed two South Korean soldiers earlier this month. Seoul has vowed to continue the broadcasts.

— Tong-hyung Kim, Seoul

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5 p.m.

North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador says “a strong military counteraction will be launched” if South Korea does not meet a Saturday deadline for removing loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda along their border.

“I would say that our military will not make any empty talks,” Ambassador An Myong Hun told reporters.

An says North Korea has asked for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss issues including the current U.S.-South Korea military exercises, which were briefly suspended.

The letter to the Security Council president accuses South Korea and the United States of “fabricating” the land mine incident that led to the current escalating tensions.

— Edith M. Lederer, United Nations

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2:30 p.m.:

The Pentagon says America’s annual military exercise with South Korea has resumed after being stopped as a result of escalating tensions and threats of war from Pyongyang.

David Shear, the assistant secretary for Asia issues, says the exercise was temporarily halted so that the U.S. and South Korea could talk and coordinate over the recent exchange of artillery fire across the border.

He says U.S. forces are at an increased security status for the exercise and that the U.S. is continuing to monitor the situation closely.

— Lolita C. Baldor, Washington

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1:00 p.m.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed deep concern over rising tensions between North and South Korea and urged them to engage in dialogue to promote peace.

U.N. spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said Ban also urged the two Koreas to refrain from taking any further measures that might increase tensions.

Ban is a former South Korean foreign minister.

Tensions have escalated since South Korea accused rival North Korea of shelling a border town on Thursday and retaliated with dozens of artillery rounds. North Korea has threatened further action unless Seoul ends loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-North Korean propaganda at the border.

— Edith Lederer, United Nations

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7:30 p.m.

North Korea’s ambassador to Russia has accused South Korea of lying about alleged North Korean artillery strikes and asked for the world’s help in defusing rapidly growing tensions between the two countries.

At a news conference in Moscow on Friday, Ambassador Kim Hyun Joon attributed the tensions to what he called military and political provocations by the United States and South Korea.

He repeated North Korea’s threat of military action if South Korea does not meet a Saturday deadline for removing loudspeakers along their border that recently resumed broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda after a lull of 11 years.

South Korea has vowed to continue the broadcasts, which were restarted after it accused North Korea of planting land mines in the DMZ along their border that maimed two South Korean soldiers.

South Korea fired dozens of artillery shells across the border on Thursday after accusing North Korea of artillery strikes.

— Nataliya Vasilyeva, Moscow

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11:50 a.m.

U.S. defense officials say America’s annual military exercise with South Korea has been halted as tensions with North Korea spike and Pyongyang issues threats of war.

The officials say the U.S. is monitoring the situation, but hasn’t taken any other military steps. It was unclear if the exercise would resume.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday declared his front-line troops in a “quasi-state of war” and ordered them to prepare for battle against South Korea in response to an exchange of artillery fire on the border Thursday.

The annual exercise began Monday and was slated to end next Friday.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

— Lolita C. Baldor, Washington, D.C.

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8:40 p.m.

South Korea’s defense minister is warning North Korea it will face “searing” consequences if it launches fresh provocation.

Han Minkoo has defended anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts, saying they are South Korea’s response to a land mine that maimed two South Korean soldiers. North Korea denies responsibility for the land mine and says it did not fire at South Korea on Thursday.

The defense minister says: “This time, we’ll cut off a vicious circle of North Korean provocation.”

He says Seoul is closely cooperating with the U.S. to deter potential aggression by North Korea

Han described the mine blast and the shelling as “mean criminal acts that reveal the bellicosity” of North Korea.

— Hyung-jin Kim, Seoul

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8 p.m.

A North Korean military official says a meeting of senior party and defense officials led by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Thursday night and “reviewed and approved the final attack operation.”

He gave no details on what kind of military retaliation North Korea would see as appropriate punishment for South Korea’s shelling of its territory on Thursday.

Kim Yong Chol, director of the general reconnaissance bureau of the North Korean army, on Friday denied South Korean allegations that Pyongyang has been raising tensions on the peninsula.

He denied the North fired anything across the Demilitarized Zone and says South Korea has not offered conclusive evidence where the rocket was launched in the North, or where exactly it landed in the South.

He suggested human error might have been a factor on the South Korean side and says the South’s decision to retaliate with its own barrage was dangerous and rash.

Kim says: “Skirmishes can lead to all-out war.”

— Eric Talmadge, Pyongyang

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7 p.m.

A senior North Korean military officer has held a rare “emergency situation briefing” for diplomats and military attaches in Pyongyang to seek their support for an ultimatum demanding that South Korea immediately stop anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the Demilitarized Zone or face military retaliation.

Kim Yong Chol, director of the general reconnaissance bureau of the North Korean army, said all frontline units are on full war readiness and citizens are now in a “quasi-state of war.” The North has given the South until 5 p.m. North Korean time Saturday to stop the broadcasts and remove the loudspeakers or suffer what it says will be severe military consequences.

Kim urged the diplomats not to believe what he called “baseless fabrications” that the North tried to destroy a loudspeaker on the southern side of the DMZ with a rocket Thursday.

— Eric Talmadge, Pyongyang

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5:30 p.m.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has visited an army headquarters responsible for the western portion of the border, and is warning she won’t tolerate any provocation by North Korea.

Park on Friday also ordered the military to respond immediately should North Korea launch fresh provocation, according to a statement from her office.

Yonhap news agency is reporting that South Korean Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo told lawmakers that the most likely new North Korean targets would be 11 sites where South Korea operates loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang messages.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry says it cannot immediately confirm the report.

Defense officials also say South Korean troops fired 29 rounds on Thursday. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that South Korea fired 36 rounds.

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5: 15 p.m.

Around 100 anti-North Korea activists have gathered in Seoul to protest North Korea’s cross-border artillery shelling.

The protesters on Friday burned posters with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s photos and a North Korean flag.

Protester Park Chan-sung says: “We urge U.N. and the international community to strongly punish and deal with North Korean dictatorship with strong anti-North sanctions and to push the North to renounce nuclear development and weapons.”

The tensions have escalated since South Korea accused the rival North of shelling a border town on Thursday and retaliated with dozens of artillery rounds. North Korea has threatened further action unless Seoul ends loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-Pyongyang propaganda at the border.

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5 p.m.

South Korea has ordered its military on top alert and vowed to sternly deal with any North Korean provocations.

The Ministry of National Defense says: “South Korea will strongly retaliate against any kind of North Korean attacks and the North will have to take all the responsibility for such … actions.”

The ministry quoting a message sent to the North on Friday.

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4:20 p.m.

As residents in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, go about their business as usual Friday morning, propaganda vans with loudspeakers have been mobilized to broadcast the news that their country is in a “semi-state of war.”

Large crowds have gathered outside Pyongyang’s main train station to watch a giant screen showing the news.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday declared his troops in a “quasi-state of war” and ordered them to prepare for battle a day after the most serious confrontation between the rivals in years.

The North has engaged in a similar warlike rhetoric in recent years, including repeated threats to reduce Seoul to a “sea of fire.”

But the latest tensions raise worries because South Korea has vowed to hit back with overwhelming strength should North Korea attack again as it did on Thursday.

North Korea has denied firing at South Korea’s border town, a claim Seoul dismisses as nonsense.

— Eric Talmadge, Pyongyang

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4:10 p.m.

South Korea says it has tried to send a message urging North Korea to apologize for its recent artillery fire provocation and to punish those responsible.

But, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry on Friday, North Korean refused to receive the South Korean message.

The latest tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula erupted on Thursday when South Korea accused the rival North of firing artillery rounds on a border town and threatening more action unless Seoul ends loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-Pyongyang propaganda. They have been activated recently for the first time in 11 years.

South Korea retaliated by firing dozens of its own rounds across the border. There were no reports of casualties.

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4 p.m.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified government source, is reporting that South Korean and U.S. surveillance assets detected the movement of vehicles in North Korea carrying short-range Scud and medium-range Rodong missiles in a possible preparation for launches.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report.

It comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday declared his front-line troops in a “quasi-state of war,” a day after South Korea fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border.

It was in response to what Seoul said were North Korean artillery strikes meant to back up a threat to attack loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda.