North Korea engaged in the latest round of projectile diplomacy Wednesday, firing several short-range missiles into the sea, in defiance of new South Korean sanctions.
The North’s perhaps inaptly named Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said that it would take “lethal” moves in the near future to bring about the South’s “pitiable demise,” and threatened America with the same.
Wednesday’s missile firing came one day after the North “released photos of leader Kim Jong Un standing beside what appears to be a nuclear warhead mock-up,” reported the AP.
South Korea was only the latest nation to sanction North Korea and somewhat late to do so. The United Nations has voted for sanctions and America has already cut off the North. Even China is warning that North Korea’s constant weapons tests, threats and firing of missiles will not be tolerated for much longer.
The current cycle of recriminations started in January when the North’s scientists test detonated what the government called an “H-bomb of justice.” It has also launched other projectiles and put up what it is calling a satellite.
For her role in passing the sanctions and cutting off any joint activities between North and South Korea, the Committee denounced South Korean President Park Geun-hye as an “American prostitute.”
Analysts are divided over whether North Korea is just saber rattling or of it is quite serious this time. Massive joint training operations between American and South Korean forces are currently taking place and set to last until the end of April.
North Korea often registers defiance against these exercises, and the government has been known to punctuate its protest with explosives. However, that defiance usually does not involve hydrogen bombs.
