North Korea`s threat of waging a `divine war`

While sending overtures to the U.S. through a pledge to dismantle its nuclear weapons program for nutritional aid, North Korea is upping the ante against South Korea. By blasting a banner slogan posted at a South Korean military unit in Incheon reading, “Hit and catch Kim Jong Il and beat and kill Kim Jong Un,” the North mobilized en masse its supreme military command, the Foreign Ministry and state media to threaten a “divine war” on the South, calling the slogan "defamation of supreme dignity.” More than 150,000 North Koreans, the most since Kim Jong Il’s funeral late last year, assembled Sunday at Kim Il Sung Plaza in Pyongyang for a joint rally of the military and civilians and pledged to launch a general protest.

For Pyongyang, which has deified the ruling Kim family, to blast Seoul is nothing new. In June last year, the North demanded that the South Korean presidential office apologize for using Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s portraits as targets for firing drills at reserve army training camps, warning of “retaliation by 10 million soldiers and civilians.” Pyongyang’s state media regularly uses highly abusive language against President Lee Myung-bak, including “leader of betrayal,” “worst among humans,” and “insane person,” but completely loses its temper if the South even refers to members of the ruling Kim family.

In an inspection tour of Panmunjom amid a South Korean-U.S. military drill held in the South, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said, “Sentry soldiers at Panmunjom should always be ready for ultimate combat since they are constantly on standoff with rifles against enemy troops.” His visit was the first “onsite guidance” by a North Korean leader since his grandfather Kim Il Sung visited the truce village in July 1994 and Kim Jong Il in November 1996. North Korean has internally declared July 27, the day the Korean War armistice day was signed in 1953, as "Commemorative Day of War Victory" and glorifies Panmunjom as the symbol of its triumph. Kim Jong Un, who seized power following the sudden death of his father Kim Jong Il, has frequently visited military units to promote his commitment to inherit his father`s policy of “military-first politics,” which suggests that power stems from military might.

Pyongyang is apparently determined not to hold dialogue with the Lee administration in Seoul. South Korean intelligence sources say that as the “progressive camp” led by the main opposition Democratic United Party will likely secure victory in the April 11 general elections, the North is sending signals that it sees no need to negotiate with the Lee administration. This represents the North’s strong expectation that in about a year, a pro-North Korea political group will take power in the South and resume provision of generous aid and assistance to the impoverished country.

According to a survey of 72 experts and 1,002 citizens in South Korea conducted by Hyundai Research Institute, 69.4 percent of South Koreans say they do not trust the communist regime in the North. In stark contrast, 69.6 percent of experts representing progressives said they can trust Pyongyang. The South Korean government, military and the majority of the people should never let their guard down against the highly belligerent North and those who call themselves "progressive experts." The South Korean military should perfect its preparedness for a potential surprise attack by North Korea around April 15, when the Stalinist country will mark the centennial birthday of its founder Kim Il Sung.