国际英语新闻:Koreas Adjourn Emergency Peace Talks

No backing down
 
South Korea’s defense ministry said Saturday its policy is to respond proportionally to any North Korean provocation so as to demonstrate resolve and deterrence without escalating the conflict.
 
Seoul has 11 loudspeaker towers stationed across the long inter-Korean border. They operate for about 10 hours a day, broadcasting what the South Korean Defense Ministry says is not anti-Pyongyang propaganda, but a mix of fact-based news about the Korean peninsula and the world, weather and popular music.
 
In another gesture underscoring the current level of tensions eight South Korean and American fighter jets conducted simulated bombing runs Saturday over South Korean territory as a "show of force" against Pyongyang's threats.
 
Earlier Saturday, North Korea deployed additional weapons near the flashpoint border in preparation for a possible strike, according to the Yonhap news agency.
 
U.S. defense officials say annual drills by American and South Korean military forces were halted temporarily Thursday after the exchange of artillery fire but have since resumed.

Dangerous game

Saturday’s emergency meeting was the first high-level inter-Korean dialogue since February of 2014. An emergency meeting in response to a forced crisis underlines a pattern of diplomatic behavior employed by past North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, who often used provocations and threats to try to extract concessions and aid. 
 
During this crisis there has been concern that the young and inexperienced Kim Jong Un would not have the diplomatic skills to engage in such a game of brinksmanship, or a sufficiently firm hold on power to be able to compromise when necessary.
 
Seoul has also been less willing to offer concessions to Pyongyang under President Park, and its military has been under orders to respond with force, ever since a North Korean artillery attack in 2010 caught the South by surprise and killed four people.
 
The United Nations, the United States and even the North's key ally, China, have called for calm to reduce the high tensions and potential for further conflict.