N. Korea Threatens Military Strike on Seoul

North Korea has threatened to attack Seoul if South Korea joins the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative.

Condemning Seoul’s plan to fully participate in the initiative, a spokesman for the North Korean People`s Army general staff said Saturday, “We will consider any pressure on us, including sanctions condemning our rocket launch or South Korea’s full participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative, as a declaration of undisguised confrontation and war against us.”

Saying its army has no limitations on conducting a military attack, the spokesman said, “(The South Korean government) must not forget that Seoul is 50 kilometers away from the Military Demarcation Line.”

This was the North’s second threat of an attack on Seoul. In March 1993 when inter-Korean working-level military talks were held at the truce village of Panmunjom, the North’s representative Pak Yong Su threatened that Seoul “will be set aflame when war breaks out.”

Saturday’s comment also marked the first direct response from the North Korea’s military to the South’s full entry into the initiative. The North had previously commented on the initiative from its Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

Pyongyang also expressed its intention to develop nuclear weapons, saying, “To build our defensive power, our revolutionary military will utilize all measures including nuclear deterrent, not being bound to the six-party talks.”

Reaffirming the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s announcement Tuesday to boycott the six-party talks, the spokesman said, “Our army pinned no hope on the six-party talks from the beginning.”

South Korea’s military has been on high alert and closely watched the movement of the North near the Military Demarcation Line and the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea. No developments have been detected.