Full Focus

A plainclothes policeman catches a woman during a police crackdown on prostitution in Quanzhou, Fujian province, October 29, 2011. China should remove criminal and administrative penalties against sex workers which often lead to serious police abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 14, 2013. The abuses include torture, beatings, physical assaults, fines and arbitrary detentions of up to two years, as well as a failure to investigate crimes against sex workers by clients, bosses and state agents, according to the report. Prostitution is not permitted under Chinese law, although the industry has boomed since the country launched economic reforms in 1978. REUTERS/Stringer

Photos of the week

Our top photos from the past week.   Slideshow 

Pictures

Photo

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Photo

Best of Cannes

Style and scenes from the Cannes Film Festival.  Slideshow 

Photo

Ethiopia's salt trails

For centuries merchants have traveled to Ethiopia to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin.  Slideshow 

Sponsored Links

South Korea military says ready to strike back if North attacks

Related Topics

A North Korean flag on a tower flutters in the wind at a North Korean village near the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in this picture taken just south of the border, in Paju, north of Seoul, February 15, 2013. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

A North Korean flag on a tower flutters in the wind at a North Korean village near the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in this picture taken just south of the border, in Paju, north of Seoul, February 15, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Lee Jae-Won

SEOUL | Wed Mar 6, 2013 12:25am EST

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's military said on Wednesday it was fully prepared to strike back at the North if its neighbor uses military force, a day after Pyongyang threatened to scrap the armistice agreement ending the 1950-53 Korean War.

"If North Korea undertakes provocation and threatens the lives and safety of our people, we make it clear that we have all preparations in place for a strong and decisive punishment not only against the source of the aggression and its support forces but also the commanding element," a major general of the South Korean military told a press conference.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by David Chance)
World
Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.