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March 30th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
The defence ministry added that no particular troop movement had been observed
along the border.
Russia warned on Friday that North Korea, the US and South Korea were engaging
in a dangerous game of brinkmanship that could spiral out of control.
“We are opposed to any steps from any side that increase tensions,” said
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Kim ordered missile units to prepare to strike the US
mainland as a British tour operator was warned that the “outbreak of
war was probably only hours away”.
The order came after US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington would
not be cowed by Pyongyang’s bellicose threats and stood ready to respond to “any
eventuality”.
Mr Kim directed his rocket units on standby at an emergency meeting with top
army commanders after nuclear-capable US B-2 stealth bombers were deployed
on Thursday in ongoing US joint military drills with South Korea.
Plans to strike targets in Hawaii and the continental United States were
revealed in a photograph taken in Kim Jong-un’s military command centre that
was released on Friday.
The photo appeared in the state-run Rodong newspaper and was apparently taken
at an “emergency meeting” early on Friday morning. They show Kim
signing the order for North Korea’s strategic rocket forces to be on standby
to fire at US targets, the paper said, with large-scale maps and diagrams in
the background.
The images show a chart marked “US mainland strike plan” and missile
trajectories that the NK
News web site estimates terminate in Hawaii, Washington DC, Los
Angeles and what they claim is Austin, Texas.
In the event of any “reckless” US provocation, North
Korean forces should “mercilessly strike the US mainland …
military bases in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South
Korea”, he was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News
Agency (KCNA).
While North Korea has no proven ability to conduct such strikes, Mr Kim said: “The
time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists.”
Meanwhile, Dylan Harris, director of Lupine Travel, which specialises in
holidays to unusual places like Iran, Chernobyl and Siberia, received an
email on Friday morning.
It said US stealth bomber flights over the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea (DRPK) had made the situation “critical with the outbreak of war
probably only hours away”. It was not clear who the email was from.
There is currently a British golfer in Pyongyang as part of a group holiday.
Mr Harris said: “I contacted the Foreign Office and if they say it’s
unsafe we will not travel or organise further trips to North Korea.
“However, there is a group of ten golfers in Pyongyang, which is where
the only public golf course is, who are due to fly out of the country
tomorrow (Saturday).
“One of them is British and nine are Chinese. I’m in constant touch with
them and they are all safe and in good spirits.”
“We had planned to organise a golfing tournament in May but with the
current situation I don’t know if that will go ahead, some customers have
already cancelled.”
Dylan Harris with a North Korean border guard at the Korean Demilitarised
Zone (Mercury Press)
Mr Harris, 34, from Wigan, has been a visitor to North Korea since 2007 and
organises golfing trips to the country up to four times a month.
Kim Jong-il, Mr Kim’s father and the iconic former dictator of the country,
who died in 2011 aged 69, famously played a round at the course in 1994.
It was apparently the first time he had played golf in his life and he shot a
hugely impressive 38-under par round that included no fewer than 11 holes in
one.
Satisfied with his performance, he reportedly immediately declared his
retirement from the sport.
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