North Korea asks embassies to consider evacuation if war

Foreign embassies and organizations in Pyongyang were advised Friday that their safety could not be guaranteed from April 10 in the event of conflict . They were asked to submit plans for evacuation before that date. The Russian embassy said: “We believe in the inadmissibility of starting military action in the Korean Peninsula and urge maximum restraint by all parties.”  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was in close contact with the United States, China, South Korea and Japan over the North Korean request and trying to “clarify the situation.” 

US and South Korean officials reported earlier Friday that North Korea had secretly moved two mid-range missile launchers capable of reaching the South or Japan and possibly the US base in Guam to its east coast. The missiles’ range is estimated at 3,000 kilometers. They are mounted on the launch vehicles. 

The North also told South Korean companies that operate factories in the Kaesong joint industrial zone to complete pulling out by April 10, Ok Sung-suk, vice president of an association that represents them, said on Thursday.