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NK threats dismissed as 'rhetoric'
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Threats by North Korea over naval exercises being carried out off the Australian coast have been dismissed as "the usual rhetoric" by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. The exercises included the mock intercepting and searching of ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction and involved the navies of the U.S., Australia, France and Japan. North Korea attacked the maneuvers via its official newspaper Rodong Sinmun, calling the exercises blatantly provocative. "Such moves of the United States are blatant military provocations to the DPRK (North Korea) and they may push the DPRK-U.S. relations to an explosive phase," the newspaper said in an editorial. "If the high-handed action and reckless military provocations of the U.S. imperialists are tolerated, the Korean nation would not be able to escape from such horrible disasters as a nuclear war, much less achieving the reunification of the country," it added. But talking to Australian media Monday, Downer said North Korea had "nothing to worry about if they don't export components or fully made-up weapons of mass destruction." He dismissed suggestions the actions could lead to war saying Pyongyang's leaders were "traditional masters of inflammatory rhetoric." "I don't think there's any need to be concerned about it," Downer said, adding "I think this is just another paragraph in a very long book of fiery rhetoric, that we've heard for many years." The exercises, called "Pacific Protector," are being held in the Coral Sea off the north eastern coast of Australia and involve the tracking and boarding of a Japanese-flagged merchant vessel suspected of carrying WMDs. Pacific Protector is the first in a planned series of 10 such exercises involving the 11 countries who have signed the Proliferation Security Initiative. Australia's Defense Minister, Robert Hill, earlier said the successful exercises had been a great success in "sending a message" to countries who might want to transfer such weapons. Complex legal issuesLast December, Spain intercepted a North Korean ship in the Arabian Sea carrying Scud missiles en route for Yemen and handed the vessel over to the United States. Washington allowed the ship to complete its voyage after concluding the missile shipment did not break any laws. While these exercises have not been specifically aimed at North Korea, the U.S. suspects Pyongyang is trafficking missiles, drugs and counterfeit cash. Legal experts have suggested such high seas interception may be illegal however. Minister Hill told media there were a lot of complex legal issues involved but that a team from across the 11 PSI nations were working on reaching a consensus on the principles of the law in these cases. Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain are the other signatories of the PSI. Hill said similar exercises were expected to be carried out in Europe and possibly the Mediterranean in the future.
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