N. Korea to South: Execute Top Officials or We'll Attack

Also, threatens a nuclear strike on DC
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 27, 2016 9:49 AM CDT
N. Korea to South: Execute Top Officials or We'll Attack
North Korean defector Park Sang-hak prepares to release balloons carrying leaflets and a banner condemning Kim Jong Un during a rally marking the 6th anniversary of the sinking of the South Korean naval ship "Cheonan" in Paju, South Korea, Saturday, March 26, 2016.   (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

When last we heard from North Korea, the Hermit Kingdom was threatening to take out Manhattan. It's now set its sights on a target much closer to home, albeit in rhetoric no less preposterous, reports Sky News: In a statement titled "Ultimatum to Park Geun-hye Group," Pyongyang demands that the South Korean president apologize for "daring to commit high treason," and that Seoul publicly execute officials it says plotted against the North's leadership, or face "merciless military action" in the form of an artillery strike on its presidential palace. It says such an attack is "just a click away," adds the New York Times, which notes that the threat was accompanied by the release of a propaganda video titled "Last Chance," which less than subtly depicts a nuclear strike on Washington, DC.

Per the video: "If the American imperialists provoke us a bit, we will not hesitate to slap them with a pre-emptive nuclear strike. The United States must choose! It’s up to you whether the nation called the United States exists on this planet or not." The threat against DC is pretty far-fetched, but experts note that the North likely could hit Seoul with its artillery. Not coincidentally, the United States and South Korea are conducting their annual joint military exercises, their biggest to date. (More North Korea stories.)

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