- Title: SOUTH KOREA/NORTH KOREA: South Koreans unfazed by North Korea's threats of war
- Date: 6th March 2012
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) RESIDENT 52-YEAR-OLD CHA KYONG-SOO SAYING: "We are not afraid. When our people hear about North Korea's threats, they don't care much." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CROSSING THE STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 48-YEAR-OLD RESIDENT KIM WON-SOOK SAYING: "I don't expect any war. North Korea threatens us all the time. The North Korean regime has to be concerned with how
- Embargoed: 21st March 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, Korea, Republic of
- City:
- Country: Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVACQS8H8OLZTOTO73PEVKFEOCEI
- Story Text: Seoul residents on Monday (March 5) said they were unfazed by North Korea's threats of war, after the isolated state staged a mass rally denouncing South Korea over the weekend.
North Korea threatened waging a "sacred war" against the South, just days after it agreed with the United States to suspend major parts of its nuclear programme and allow back international nuclear inspectors.
Local newspapers in Seoul carried headlines reading "Kim Jong-un risks his regime criticising the South" and "North ups rhetoric on military drills".
But residents in the capital said they were not worried about a possible attack.
"We are not afraid. When our people hear about North Korea's threats, they don't care much," said 52-year-old resident Cha Kyong-soo.
"I don't expect any war. North Korea threatens us all the time. The North Korean regime has to be concerned with how to maintain their power, so they have no time to think about waging a war," said 48-year-old Kim Won-sook.
Pyongyang's state media has recently beefed up the rhetoric against South Korea's Lee and military leaders, accusing them of allowing an army unit to hang portraits of former and current North Korean leaders and "scrawl unspeakable defamatory words" below them.
South Korean media said soldiers at a military unit in the western city of Incheon posted the photos of both North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his father inside a building, along with the inscription: "Let's kill Kim Jong-un".
South Korean defence ministry said on Monday that it was "not appropriate" for North Korea to make an issue out of the incident.
"It's one of the posters located inside a military unit to intensify the mental education for our soldiers against the enemy. So it's not appropriate for the North Korean regime to make an issue out of it, and to have its official broadcaster denounce our country," said spokesman Kim Min-seok during a news briefing.
Seoul's unification ministry urged the North to stop denouncing South Korea and its president.
"North Korea has denounced our president and our country continuously in public, through official media. It is reasonable to ask North Korea to stop it immediately," said spokesman Kim Hyung-suk during a news briefing.
Many North Korean watchers say the sabre-rattling is aimed at consolidating Kim's grip on power and attaining an advantage in the latest round of disarmament-for-aid talks with the United States.
"Internally, North Korea wants to stir up a feeling of hostility in its people, towards the U.S. and South Korea, to strengthen solidarity amongst themselves. Externally, it intends to highlight the peaceful image of Kim Jong-un through dialogues with the U.S. -- it's a two-faced strategy," said Professor Yang Moo-jin at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.
Footage from North Korea's state-run television KRT showed North Korean soldiers firing at a target that reading "Down with crazy Lee Myung-bak, the traitors and military warmongers".
North and South Korea are still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None