North Korea issues unusually specific threat

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North Korea issues unusually specific threat

By Dylan Stableford | The Envoy – 8 hrs ago

North Korea's military vowed a new and unusually specific threat to its

neighbors, saying it would reduce South Korea " to ashes " in less than four

minutes.

The statement, released Monday when programming was interrupted on North Korea's

state TV by a special report, comes amid rising tensions on the Korean

peninsula.

Earlier this month, North Korea was unsuccessful in a long-range missile launch,

prompting worries that North Korea may conduct another nuclear test. South

Korean officials say new satellite images show that North Korea has been digging

a tunnel in what appears to be preparation for a third atomic test.

According to the Associated Press, the statement from North Korea was unusual in

promising something soon and in describing a specific period of time.

The North Korean military threatened to " reduce all the rat-like groups and the

bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes, (or) in much shorter

time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style. "

For months the North has castigated South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and the

conservative administration for insulting their leadership and criticizing a new

cruise missile capable of striking anywhere in the south.

South Korean officials responded, urging North Korea to end the threats. " We

urge North Korea to immediately stop this practice, " Unification Ministry

spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said, according to the Associated Press. " We express

deep concern that the North's threats and accusations have worsened inter-Korean

ties and heightened tensions. "

Meanwhile, in a meeting Sunday with a North Korean delegation in Beijing,

China's senior official on foreign policy praised the leadership shown by North

Korea's new young leader, Kim Jong Un.

The meeting follows the April 13 launch of what the United States called a

disguised ballistic missile test by North Korea. The rocket disintegrated

minutes after launch.

-- With reporting by Ron Recinto