North Korea renews threat to attack South Korea over anti-Pyongyang leaflets

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North Korea renews threat to attack South Korea over anti-Pyongyang leaflets

By Kwang-Tae Kim (CP) – 11 hours ago

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea renewed its threat Friday to attack South Korea

over anti-Pyongyang leaflets being sent into the country, a sign of lingering

tension after the sinking of a South Korean warship.

Civilian activists regularly use balloons to launch leaflets condemning North

Korean leader Kim Jong Il across the heavily fortified border, a tactic

Pyongyang views as part of official South Korean psychological campaigns aimed

at toppling its regime.

The North warned during military talks with South Korea last month that it might

fire artillery at sites the activists use to launch the balloons.

South Korean Defence Minister Kim Tae-young said earlier this month that the

military would immediately resume full-scale propaganda activities against North

Korea in the event of any new provocations by Pyongyang, but has so far limited

that to radio broadcasts.

The broadcasts resumed after the sinking of a South Korean warship in March that

killed 46 sailors. A multinational investigation led by Seoul concluded that a

North Korean torpedo sank the warship, though Pyongyang has denied involvement.

On Friday, the North's military denounced the South Korean defence minister's

comments as a declaration of a war against North Korea, the North's official

Korean Central News Agency reported.

" If the South side does not halt ... broadcasting and the scattering of

anti-(North Korean) leaflets, it will never be able to escape the KPA's physical

strikes at the broadcasting means and leaflet-scattering centres, " the North's

military said, referring to its official name, the Korean People's Army.

The North sent the protest message to military officials in South Korea, KCNA

said. North Korea's military said its response would depend on how South Korea

reacts.

South Korea's Defence Ministry said it had no immediate comment on the threat.

The latest warning comes amid mixed messages from the North. Pyongyang has

recently reached out to South Korea and called for talks on the resumption of

stalled tours to a resort inside North Korea. The two sides have also agreed to

hold the first reunions in a year later this month for families divided by the

Korean War.

Yet, Pyongyang also lashed out at Seoul for staging naval drills with the U.S.,

Australia and Japan this week that the allies said were rehearsals for

intercepting illicit weapon shipments from nations such as North Korea. The

North believes any military drills involving the U.S. are aimed at an eventual

invasion.

North Korea " stands for dialogue and peace but if the aggressors impose a war

upon it, it will wipe them out to the last man and blow up their strongholds, "

the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement

carried by KCNA.

The South Korean and the U.S. air forces kicked off their annual drills Friday,

which they say are aimed at improving their combined combat capabilities. The

drills will last for a week, according to Seoul's Defence Ministry.

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