Is North Korea all talk?
We've heard their bellicose rhetoric before, but this time there may be legitimate cause for concern
Topics: GlobalPost, Asia, North Korea, West Sea, Yellow Sea, Kim Jong-un, aol_on, Video, News
SEOUL, South Korea — If North Korea decides to back up its words with action, what could it really do?
Most experts agree a full-blown war or a nuclear attack on the peninsula is off the cards. But the two Koreas have dialed up the rhetoric over the past week, raising fears that Pyongyang could launch a quick but containable provocation against the South in the coming months.
Last week, the North threatened to exercise what it called a “right” to a preemptive nuclear attack in response to the United Nations’ decision to expand economic sanctions.
The situation could worsen following the US State Department’s announcement Tuesday that it will expand its own restrictions on four North Korean officials and the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea.
But on Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a more specific, credible threat at the West Sea, also known as the Yellow Sea. It’s a disputed frontier off the west coast of the peninsula, now occupied by the South.
The Supreme Leader proclaimed to artillery troops stationed near the coast that “war can break out right now,” state media reported. He told the military to make preparations to turn Baengnyeong, an island that is home to 5,000 residents, into “a sea of flames.”
Usually, Korea watchers would overlook the remarks as prosaic chatter from a regime that’s big on talk. But there’s cause for worry this time: since the mid-1990s, North Korea has occasionally followed through when it comes to the West Sea.
“The West Sea is always convenient for provoking South Korea,” said Robert Kelly, a political science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea.
“The point is to keep the money coming from the South by threatening it,” he added, referring to South Korean aid.
A military skirmish could come “before the end of the year,” he said. “It’ll be something minimal, something containable, because they cannot make a surprise attack and then win a full-scale war.”
Officials at the South Korean Defense Ministry, however, said Tuesday they did not believe North Korea would follow through on its threats.
More Related Stories
-
Assata Shakur first woman named on FBI most wanted list
-
Georgia town allegedly diverting sewage to black neighborhood
-
Pic of the day: World Trade Center reborn
-
Hacker steals sensitive infrastructure data from U.S. military
-
Shots fired at Houston airport
-
Howard Kurtz and the Daily Beast "part ways" after Jason Collins error
-
Dutch police may get right to hack into computers
-
U.S. calls for amnesty of American prisoner in North Korea
-
Maryland bans the death penalty
-
Why conservatives should support immigration equality
-
6 insidious ways you're getting ripped off
-
Fracking ourselves to death in Pennsylvania
-
Americans to government: Hands off our civil liberties
-
What anti-LGBT activists say "off the record"
-
Accidental child shooting in Kentucky sparks gun debate
-
Obama will pitch immigration overhaul in Mexico
-
Bangladesh building collapse toll climbs to 433
-
NYPD's Ray Kelly: Blacks "understopped" by police
-
Obama administration to defend age restrictions on emergency contraception
-
Gitmo lawyer found dead in apparent suicide
-
Teenager charged for science project gone awry
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X-
This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
Reuters/Jason Reed -
Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
AP/A.M. Ahad -
Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
AP/Elise Amendola -
Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani -
Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
AP/Manish Swarup -
Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
AP/Jeff Roberson -
Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel -
Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
AP/Liu Yinghua -
On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
AP/Rogelio V. Solis -
The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
AP/David J. Phillip -
Recent Slide Shows
-
The week in 10 pics
-
"Arrested Development" character posters
-
Photos of the Boston manhunt
-
Newspaper headlines covering the Boston explosion
-
Salon is proud to feature content from GlobalPost, an awarding-winning international news site that focuses on original reporting from journalists stationed around the world. GlobalPost combines traditional journalistic values with the power of new media to offer a fresh perspective on global developments.
Most Read
-
71 names so awful New Zealand had to ban them
-
"This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann"
-
He made me his drug mule
-
Ted Cruz will never be president
-
Claire Messud to Publishers Weekly: "What kind of question is that?"
-
Pictures of people who mock me
-
Is Michael Pollan a sexist pig?
-
How conspiracists think
-
Bush cancels Europe trip amid calls for his arrest
-
"Star Trek's" Wil Wheaton tells newborn girl why being a nerd "is awesome"
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com
Comments
5 Comments