Text Fwd: N. Korea threatens to shoot directly at S. Korean border facilities

* South Korean propaganda aginst North Korea

Yonhap News
N. Korea threatens to shoot directly at S. Korean border facilities
Feb. 27, 2011

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Sunday threatened to fire aimed shots at South Korean facilities involved in "psychological warfare" in a self-defense action, unless the South suspends its propaganda campaign.

"The on-going psychological warfare by the puppet military in the frontline area is a treacherous deed and a wanton challenge to the demand of the times and desire of all the fellow countrymen to bring about a new phase of peaceful reunification and national prosperity through all-round dialogue and negotiations," a North Korean military official told the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"We officially notify that our army will stage a direct fire at the (Imjin) Pavilion and other sources of the anti-DPRK psychological warfare to destroy them on the principle of self-defense, if such actions last despite our repeated warning," the official added. "The group of traitors in South Korea must stop the anti-DPRK psychological warfare at once, squarely seeing the seriousness of the prevailing situation."

DPRK is an acronym of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Also on Sunday, North Korean representatives at Panmunjom, the inter-Korean border village, reiterated their usual threat against the annual Key Resolve military drills between South Korea and the U.S. forces, which will begin Monday.

The North Korean officials said their armed forces would launch "an all-out war of unprecedented scale" and turn Seoul into "a sea of fire" if the South Korean and the U.S. "invaders" provoked Pyongyang with a threat of war.

Imjingak, a tourism pavilion located just south of Panmunjom, has made headlines, as hundreds of South Korean activists frequently sent anti-North Korea flyers and materials from there.

The North's warning of the direct strike came in light of a recent admission by the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul that the South Korean military has been sending propaganda leaflets in balloons to North Korea, mixing them with life supplies. The leaflets warned the North Korean regime about the consequences of dictatorship, according to a report by the ministry.

A South Korean government source said on Sunday that these leaflets contained details about recent anti-government movements in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, countries where civilian activists have tried to take down long-time rulers.

"I understand thousands of leaflets talked about what has taken place in Egypt and Libya and argued that dictatorship and hereditary regimes (such as the one in Pyongyang) are bound to fail," the official said. "We plan to update the ongoing developments in the Middle East and send more leaflets sometime next month."

North Korea, which has carved a cult of personality for its leader, Kim Jong-il, and his regime, has balked at South Korean activists' sending of balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the communist state and at Seoul's refusal to stop them. South Korea in 2004 agreed to halt such activities amid warming relations.

But after a multinational investigation in May last year found Pyongyang responsible for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, Cheonan, in March, Seoul announced a plan to blast anti-North Korea messages through loudspeakers along the border. The North threatened to strike the speakers if they are turned on.

Before Christmas last year, South Korea lit up a giant Christmas tree on top of a border hill -- an action North Korea sees as part of psychological warfare -- for the first time since 2003, a month after North Korea fired artillery at the South Korean western island of Yeonpyeong.

The glowing tree had served as a symbol of prosperity in the South and provided a stark contrast to the destitute North, which had been concerned that the lights would weaken the communist regime's ideological stranglehold of its people.

North Korea, which has carved a cult of personality for its leader, Kim Jong-il, and his regime, has balked at South Korean activists' sending of balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the communist state and at Seoul's refusal to stop them. South Korea in 2004 agreed to halt such activities amid warming relations.

But after a multinational investigation in May last year found Pyongyang responsible for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, Cheonan, in March, Seoul announced a plan to blast anti-North Korea messages through loudspeakers along the border. The North threatened to strike the speakers if they are turned on.

Before Christmas last year, South Korea lit up a giant Christmas tree on top of a border hill -- an action North Korea sees as part of psychological warfare -- for the first time since 2003, a month after North Korea fired artillery at the South Korean western island of Yeonpyeong.

The glowing tree had served as a symbol of prosperity in the South and provided a stark contrast to the destitute North, which had been concerned that the lights would weaken the communist regime's ideological stranglehold of its people. (jeeho@yna.co.kr)

_______________________________

See also Korea Times