NKorea threatens to ban SKorean officials unless Seoul apologizes over remark

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea says it will ban South Korean officials from the country in anger over a top Southern military leader's remark about attacking the communist nation.

The North's military also demanded that Seoul apologize for the remark by the new head of the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff - otherwise it would assume Seoul wants to suspend all dialogue and contacts with the North.

The angry reaction came days after the new head of the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kim Tae-young, said the military would strike a suspected North Korean nuclear weapons site if Pyongyang attempts to attack the South with atomic bombs.

The North said Kim's remark amounted to a declaration of war.

The South's Defence Ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff said they had no immediate comment.

Kim made the remark during a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday. His office later said he was talking about a general military principle dealing with outside threats, not about launching an unprovoked pre-emptive attack on the North.

© The Canadian Press, 2008