Posted on 04/18/2012 7:24:35 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
2012/04/19 10:52 KST
N. Korea threatens to blow up Seoul over defamation of its leader
SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea urged South Korea Thursday to offer an apology over the alleged defamation of Pyongyang's milestone festival, a day after its military threatened to blow up Seoul.
The latest harsh rhetoric comes amid tensions following the North's failed rocket launch last week. The U.N. Security Council has condemned the launch and called on member states to find ways to tighten sanctions on the communist country.
The North Korean government accused South Korea of insulting the North's dignity over the celebrations marking the centennial of the April 15 birth of the country's late founder Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.
President Lee Myung-bak said last week the North's rocket launch is estimated to have cost Pyongyang about US$850 million, and the destitute North could have spent the money to buy 2.5 million tons of corn, an amount that is enough to make up for food shortages in the country for six years.
South Korea also estimated that the North separately spent some US$350 million on the milestone anniversary for propaganda purposes as well as renovating its landmark hotel, the equivalent of feeding its 24 million people for 100 days.
The North's government accused South Korea of fabricating the costs of the centenary anniversary, claiming Seoul's move is aimed at tarnishing the North's image and undermining its internal unity.
North Korea will stage a "sacred war to wipe out the group of traitors unless South Korea immediately apologize for insulting" the anniversary celebrations, the North Korean government said in an English-language dispatch carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.
A spokesman of the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, was not immediately reached for comment.
On Wednesday, the North's military also vowed to mercilessly retaliate against South Korea for hurting the dignity of its supreme leadership. Some South Koreans have recently held anti-Pyongyang events in Seoul.
"As even the heart of Seoul is served as a base for provocative acts of hurting the dignity of the (North)'s supreme leadership, the (North) will take a special action to blow up everything there," the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army warned in an English-language statement carried by the KCNA.
Seoul, the South Korean capital city of more than 10 million people, is within range of North Korea's artillery.
The North has long bristled at any outside criticism of its leader and has made similar threats against the South over the past several months, although no actual attack has occurred yet.
South Korea has repeatedly vowed to avenge any North Korean attacks following the North's two provocations in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans, mostly soldiers.
Just hit the triangle over the center freeze frame photo to stream Japanese TV report mentioning the latest threat and how they were "insulted" at their big "birthday party" last Sunday. Sheesh, what soreheads!!
Do you have a loverly bunch of coconuts? Merv Griffin did a good job of it.
I heard that she is virtually retired and only brought out to do some important special broadcast. Attempt raise threat value by picking a most senior anchor? Her body language shows that she is trying to make the presentation extra dramatic. One can’t afford to make the supreme leader get the wrong impression that she is not sincere. Even people far more powerful than she were purged.
Nuke em and be done with it.
Does “Kim Jong Un’s hairstyle looks like two porcupines copulating” count as “defamation”????
Just waiting for barbers to hear, “Give me the Kim Jong Un cut, please.”
So when does “5 O’Clock Charlie” start flying his missions again?
This is something most Americans don't quite get. I dated a Korean for a while; when I asked her about one of these scary-sounding threats she just rolled her eyes and asked why I took any of NK's ramblings seriously.
NK knows that attacking Seoul would result in the obliteration of Pyongyang et al, so they won't do it. Likewise, NK has arranged to destroy Seoul in case of viable threat. M.A.D. policies, alas, work. 
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