Saturday, July 24, 2010

North Korea vows 'physical response' to US exercise

Having served a year in Seoul while in the Army in the 60's, this article in BBC News is of interest. While the North Koreans are unpredictable, I do not believe they are stupid and I agree with the analysis below.

Excerpt:
North Korea has promised a "physical response" to joint US-South Korean military exercises this weekend.

Analysis by John Sudworth, BBC News, Seoul

It is unclear, of course, how carefully the North Korean spokesman weighed his words before unleashing his latest verbal broadside. But the talk of a "physical response", if taken at face value, seems troubling.

Angry rhetoric from North Korea is nothing new - it serves both a domestic political purpose, keeping the enemy constantly in the forefront of its citizens' minds, and an external one, by raising tension when Pyongyang believes it is in its interests to do so.

At times the language turns flamboyant, even poetic. So it is difficult to know what to make of the latest, threatened "physical response", but on past form, it probably should not be taken at face value.
Read BBC article "North Korea vows 'physical response' to US exercise" here.

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