THE 43 year military stand off between North and South Korea grew even more tense yesterday after the North renounced its obligations in the demilitarised zone (DMZ), which has separated the two armies since the end of the Korean War.
South Korea warned it would retaliate against any military provocation by North Korea following Pyongyang's announcement. After an emergency meeting of security ministers, a senior defence ministry official said Seoul would not tolerate any violation of the truce that ended the 1950-1953 war.
A statement broadcast from Pyongyang on the official Korean Central News Agency announced that the Korean People's Army (KPA), whose one million troops are massed close to the border, would "give up its duty, under the armistice agreement, concerning the maintenance and control of the military demarcation line and DMZ. Secondly, the KPA side shall . . . have its personnel and vehicles bear no distinctive insignia and marking when they enter the joint security area".
The precise consequences of the decision are not immediately clear but in the short term it is likely to make little practical difference. The armistice, which brought the Korean war to an end in 1953, has become increasingly meaningless over the last few years with both sides alleging violations. The Military Armistice Council, the bilateral body responsible for monitoring the peace, has not met since 1994 when the North withdrew its mission and later expelled neutral observers.
But yesterday's announcement will add to the anxiety about the intentions of Pyongyang at a troubled and unpredictable moment in the North's history. Apart from uncertainties about the grip on power of its reclusive "Dear Leader", Mr Kim Jong Il, parts of the country are on the verge of famine since disastrous floods last summer destroyed much of the rice harvest. In December, the KPA moved bombers close to the DMZ, which is only 50 km from the South Korean capital, Seoul. Since the end of the Korean War, no formal peace treaty has ever been signed.
A week ago, the vice Minister of the North Korean armed forces, vice Marshal Kim Kwang Jin, said: "The point now is not whether a war will break out in the Korean Peninsula, but when it will be unleashed."
Government officials and foreign diplomats in Seoul, however, doubt Pyongyang's appetite for war: much of its military equipment is poorly maintained and out of date and, although the North could inflict shocking casualties its ultimate defeat would be in little doubt.
The timing of yesterday's announcement suggests that it has been made for political reasons, principally to pressurise the US into signing a peace agreement which would exclude South Korea, and to focus the minds of donor governments on providing relief aid for the victims of the floods.
It will also add to uncertainty in South Korea, which is holding important parliamentary elections next Thursday.