North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered terror attacks on South Koreans that could occur in busy shopping malls, subways and other public places, Seoul claims.
Officials also fear the tyrant could target activists and defectors with poisoning attacks or lure them to China in order to be kidnapped.
Details of the terror warnings emerged in a briefing South Korea's National Intelligence Service gave to members of the country's ruling Saenuri Party.
One senior official said North Korea's spy agency has begun implementing Jong-un's order to 'muster anti-South terror capabilities that can pose a direct threat to our lives and security'.
Presidential aide Kim Sung-woo added that the possibility of North Korean attacks 'is increasing more than ever' and asked for quick passage of an anti-terror bill in parliament.
The North has a history of attacks on its neighbour, such as the 2010 shelling on an island that killed four South Koreans and the 1987 bombing of a South Korean passenger plane that killed 115.
His comments came just hours after the NIS briefing, which stated the attacks could target anti-Pyongyang activists, defectors and government officials.
A party official, requesting anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to media publicly, said attacks on subways, shopping malls and other public places could occur.
The South's current standoff with North Korea is not expected to ease soon, with Seoul and Washington discussing deploying a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system in South Korea that Pyongyang warns would be a source of regional tension.
The allies also say their annual springtime military drills will be the largest ever. South Korea's defense minister said Thursday that about 15,000 U.S. troops will take part, double of the number Washington normally sends.
The North says the drills are preparation for a northward invasion
Seoul defense officials also said that they began preliminary talks on February 7 with the U.S. on deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense.
The talks are aimed at working out details for formal missile deployment talks, such as who'll represent each side, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.
The deployment is opposed by China and Russia too. Opponents say the system could help U.S. radar spot missiles in other countries.
The same day North Korea conducted what it said was a satellite launch but was in fact a banned test of missile technology.
The United States on Wednesday flew four stealth F-22 fighter jets over South Korea and reaffirmed it maintains an 'ironclad commitment' to the defense of its Asian ally.
Last month, it sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber to South Korea following the North's fourth nuclear test.
Foreign analysts say the North's rocket launch and nuclear test put the country further along it its quest for a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.
Source of : Daily Mail
Saturday , 20 February 2016
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