Report: North Korea Will Retaliate If Provoked

Tension continue to escalate in Korea as Pyongyang continues to fire missiles in complete disregard for the 2006 UN resolution on nuclear missile tests. North Korea said they will retaliate if provoked. US troops have been on heightened alert

Tension escalates in Korea as Pyongyang fired a short-range missile on the east coast, bringing the missile fired to six since Monday. The ground-to-air missile is estimated to have a range of up to 160 miles. Yahoo news reports: North Korea defiantly test-fired another short-range missile Friday and warned it would act in "self-defense" if provoked by the U.N. Security Council, which is considering tough sanctions against the communist regime for conducting a nuclear test.

If the U.N. Security Council makes a further provocation, it will be inevitable for us to take further self-defense measures," the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.As an indication of possible confrontation in the Korean peninsula, some Chinese fishing vessels have started moving out to avoid maritime skirmishes in the area. US and North Korea have in recent days been putting the troops on alert as both countries declared that they will act or retaliate if provoked. There are about 28 thousand American troops in the area while North Korea maintains about 1.2 million troops, making it one of the worlds largest. The US has repeatedly denied any intention to attack North Korea. But a top army officer Gen. George Casey said that it can fight a conventional war in North Korea if necessary The report added: Meanwhile, talks at the U.N. Security Council over possible sanctions for the nuclear test were moving forward slowly.

Russia's U.N. ambassador said Thursday there was wide agreement among key world powers on what a new U.N. resolution should include, but said putting the elements together will take time because the issues are "complicated." The United Nations maintain that the 2006 resolution adopted by the UN prohibits North Korea from testing any more missile. But North Korea continued its missile launching activity in total disregard of the existing UN resolution.