South Koreans who feel their oppressed northern brethren have been living in an isolated Hell hole have sent balloons north with news of the outside world and of their own rulers:
South Korean groups have been sending the leaflets into the North for years. Analysts said the recent wave appeared to have touched a nerve because they mentioned a taboo subject in the North -- the health of leader Kim Jong-il.
These litter the countryside, apparently. So what's a psychopathic leadership do when faced with such tactics? Why, threaten nuclear war, of course:
"We clarify our stand that should the South Korean puppet authorities continue scattering leaflets and conducting a smear campaign with sheer fabrications, our army will take a resolute practical action as we have already warned," the official KCNA news agency quoted the military spokesman as saying.
At a rare round of military talks on Monday, North Korea complained about the leaflets while South Korean activists sent a new batch of 100,000, despite warnings from Seoul not to do so.
"The puppet authorities had better bear in mind that the advanced pre-emptive strike of our own style will reduce everything opposed to the nation and reunification to debris, not just setting them on fire," the spokesman said.
Touchy, eh? To threaten nuclear retaliation, these leaflets must be hitting quite a nerve.
And besides, the threat simply must be bogus. North Korea has already agreed to disarm their nuclear weapons programs, right?
UPDATE: Well, this might explain the touchiness:
New South Korean intelligence indicates that ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il suffered a serious setback in his recovery from a stroke and has been hospitalized, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
The North Koreans probably don't know about their ruler's health and the regime isn't about to sharing information now.
