N.Korea warns it could turn Seoul into 'sea of flame'

[Guest guest]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100612/world/nkorea_military

N.Korea warns it could turn Seoul into 'sea of flame'

Module body

Sat Jun 12, 3:57 AM

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea Saturday threatened to attack loudspeakers set up to

broadcast South Korean propaganda and said it could turn Seoul " into a sea of

flame " as tensions flared over the sinking of a warship.

The North's General Staff of the Korean People's Army made the threat in

response to Seoul setting up the speakers at 11 locations along the tense border

to resume anti-Pyongyang broadcasts which have been suspended since 2004.

" The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK (North Korea) will launch an all-out

military strike to blow up the group's means for the psychological warfare, " it

said in a statement.

" It should bear in mind that the military retaliation of the DPRK is a merciless

strike foreseeing even the turn of Seoul, the stronghold of the group of

traitors, into a sea of flame, " it said.

Tensions are high after a multinational investigation said last month a

submarine from the North torpedoed a 1,200-tonne South Korean corvette near the

disputed sea border in the Yellow Sea, with Pyongyang angrily denying

responsibility.

The installation of the loudspeakers amounted to " a direct declaration of a war "

and a " flagrant violation " of the inter-Korean declaration for peace and

reconciliation signed in 2000, the North's statement went on.

" Therefore, the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK will launch an all-out

military strike to blow up the group's means for the psychological warfare, " it

said.

The North has repeatedly threatened to strike down the loudspeakers if Seoul

goes ahead with the broadcasts.

The statement, published by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency,

described the loudspeakers as " a hideous provocative act of infringing upon the

dignity and supreme interests of the DPRK " .

South Korean Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young told parliament Friday that Seoul

and Washington had agreed that the broadcasts should not be resumed before the

UN Security Council discusses the sinking.

A South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman told AFP there was no unusual

movement of North Korean troops deployed along the border despite the threat.

Another Joint Chiefs of Staff official told Yonhap news agency that South Korean

soldiers were on alert against possible provocation.

The two Koreas stopped decades of propaganda warfare in 2004 as relations thawed

following the first summit of their leaders in 2000.

They agreed in 2004 to halt the official propaganda to ease relations, although

the North still complains strongly about private Seoul groups which launch

anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the tightly guarded frontier.

On Friday, the North warned of " merciless " measures against the South for

referring to the UN Security Council to censure the communist state over the

sinking.

A spokesman from its powerful National Defence Commission, chaired by leader Kim

Jong-Il, warned the UN of " serious " consequences for peace if it debates the

sinking without letting the North's investigators examine the evidence.

North Korea accuses Washington and Seoul of a " smear campaign " to fake evidence

of its involvement and says reprisals already announced by the South, including

a trade suspension, could spark war.

The two Koreas have remained technically at war since the end of the 1950-1953

conflict, and each waged a cross-border propaganda campaign during and after the

Cold War.

[Guest guest]

They probably could, too. Nukes aside, they have a lot of artillery and an known chemical and biological capability. Shelling Seoul would no doubt cause a panic which would lead to even more casualties and economic troubles. I've read that many buildings in Seoul were designed to be fortifications in the event of war. Some are very strong with open areas around them and are built for defense. However, I've also seen plenty of video and other evidence that a lot of the construction in Seoul is substandard to put it mildly because of rampant corruption. That means the shelling could cause even more damage as weak building crumble after being hit. If the people really panic because of this and they try to flee, that will only leave them exposed to shelling and losses will be much heavier.

In a message dated 6/12/2010 2:26:46 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

N.Korea warns it could turn Seoul into 'sea of flame'

[Guest guest]

The only way I see for North Korea to achieve any kind of a victory without

being utterly destroyed in a retaliatory strike would be for them to use a nuke

against Seoul as thier opening volley.

If you just shell the city with conventional artillary or missiles, so many

people have a chance to get to bomb shelters or to take shelter of some kind

that hardly enough people would be killed to make an impact on the government of

South Korea. After a few volleys were lobbed into Seoul, you;d then have a

citizenry coming out as angry as hornets from a disturbed nest, and they would

fight hard against the North.

The US might assist with a few precision guided bombs and that would be all it

took for the North's citizens to go against its on government.

Or maybe I am wrong about guaging the psychology of the North Korea populace.

Administrator

They probably could, too. Nukes aside, they have a lot of artillery and an known

chemical and biological capability. Shelling Seoul would no doubt cause a panic

which would lead to even more casualties and economic troubles. I've read that

many buildings in Seoul were designed to be fortifications in the event of war.

Some are very strong with open areas around them and are built for defense.

However, I've also seen plenty of video and other evidence that a lot of the

construction in Seoul is substandard to put it mildly because of rampant

corruption. That means the shelling could cause even more damage as weak

building crumble after being hit. If the people really panic because of this and

they try to flee, that will only leave them exposed to shelling and losses will

be much heavier.