North Korea preps for missile launch
SEOUL, March 26 (UPI) -- North Korea has moved a long-range rocket to a launch pad, ignoring warnings from the United States, a South Korean official said Monday.
North Korea has said it plans to launch a satellite next month as part of its space program. South Korea considers the launch an attempt to develop a nuclear-armed missile.
Preparations for an apparent test launch were reported Monday, hours after U.S. President Barack Obama, in Seoul for a nuclear summit, warned of repercussions against any pursuit of nuclear weapons by the North.
"Here in Korea, I want to speak directly to the leadership in Pyongyang. The United States has no hostile intent toward your country," Obama said in a speech at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. "But by now it should be clear, your provocations and pursuit of nuclear weapons have not achieved the security you seek. They have undermined it."
A defense ministry official told CNN the North moved the rocket to a launch pad near the Chinese border.
The North Korean government has said any critical statement of its nuclear program would be seen as "a declaration of war."
The use of ballistic missile technology would violate a U.N. Security Council Resolution, as well as a deal for food aid from the United States.
"There will be no rewards for provocations. Those days are over," Obama said in his speech. "To the leaders of Pyongyang I say: This is the choice before you."
Obama warned North Korea would lose its promised food aid and face sanctions if it the long-range rocket is launched.
Obama: U.S. 'moral obligation' to cut arms
SEOUL, March 26 (UPI) -- The United States has a "moral obligation" to pursue strategic arms cuts, President Barack Obama said Monday, while warning North Korea to shun nuclear weapons.
"I believe the United States has a unique responsibility to act -- indeed, we have a moral obligation," Obama told students at South Korea's Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
"I say this as president of the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons," Obama said. "I say it as a commander in chief who knows that our nuclear codes are never far from my side. Most of all, I say it as a father, who wants my two young daughters to grow up in a world where everything they know and love can't be instantly wiped out."
Obama promised to pursue further strategic arms cuts with Russia as part of an expansive nuclear disarmament agenda.
"Going forward, we'll continue to seek discussions with Russia on a step we have never taken before -- reducing not only our strategic nuclear warheads, but also tactical weapons and warheads in reserve," Obama said.
"I look forward to discussing this agenda with [incoming]President [Vladimir] Putin when we will meet in May," he said.
Obama warned North Korea it will further deepen its isolation if it moves forward with a plan to launch a satellite into orbit next month.
The United States and other countries say the launch would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding North Korea stop launching rockets that use long-range intercontinental ballistic missile technology, like the one that would carry the satellite into space.
Man in Afghan uniform kills 2 NATO troops
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 26 (UPI) -- A man wearing an Afghan military uniform shot and killed two NATO soldiers in southern Afghanistan Monday before he was killed, police said.
Military officials said NATO troops shot the man soon after he opened fire on a group of coalition troops, The Washington Post reported.
A military spokesman said officials were investigating whether the shooter was an Afghan soldier or a civilian wearing an Afghan army uniform.
No other details were released, the Post said.
Relations between Afghan forces and interntional troops have become strained fllowing several incidents this year, including the accidental burning of Korans by U.S. military personnel last month.
U.S. Defense Department statistics indicate at least 51 NATO troops have been killed by Afghan security personnel since May 2007. Nine of the deaths occurred after the Koran burnings.
Official: 17th victim was unborn child
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 26 (UPI) -- An unborn child was among the victims of an attack in which a U.S. soldier was accused of killing 17 Afghans, an Afghan official said.
There has been a discrepancy between the the number of victims in charges filed by the U.S. military against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales and the number of dead reported by Afghan officials.
The Kandahar province police chief, Brig. Gen. Abdul Razak, told The New York Times the U.S. charges include the death of an unborn baby.
"The Americans are right and one of the females was pregnant, which is why they are saying 17," he said in a Times report Monday.
Other Afghan officials have said the death toll in the attack was 16,.
U.S. officials are reported to have paid family members $50,000 for each person who was killed and $11,000 to each of six people wounded in the attack.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the death of an unborn baby could be considered a murder if the killer knew, or didn't know, a victim was pregnant. The newspaper said it was not clear if the mother of the unborn child was killed in the attack or if she was among the wounded.
