According to North Korea’s official news agency KCNA,Pyongyang’s senior official with the Committee for the PeacefulReunification of Korea demanded an apology on Saturday, reacting tothe South Korean Defense Ministry’s threat that North Korea“will vanish from earth”, should it choose to strike first.Pyongyang has said that it views the statement as "an opendeclaration of war."
The most recent tit-for-tat exchange started with Pyongyang’sdispleasure at Seoul’s support for the latest round of sanctionsimposed by the UN Security Council after North Korea went aheadwith its February 12 nuclear test. The country has officiallyrejected the sanctions, which were unanimously decided at the UNSC,and are aimed at freezing accounts, stopping bulk financialtransactions, the transportation of banned cargo and tougherscreenings of the country’s diplomats when travelling. Pyongyangclaims that targeting it with sanctions, rather than trying to curbits nuclear program, will multiply its nuclear capability by “athousand times”. This will be the fifth time sanctions areimplemented since 2006. The resolution was adopted on Thursday.
Meanwhile, China continues to stress peaceful dialogue, especiallywith cross-cutting interests in the region. On the one hand,Beijing is Pyongyang’s major ally; on the other, it wishes to keepdiplomatic and business ties with Seoul and Tokyo, whilesimultaneously trying to appease the West by playing ball at theSecurity Council. The country’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi hassaid that he does not believe sanctions to be the go-to strategyfor dealing with North Korea. In a statement at a news conference,the Chinese FM said “We always believe that sanctions are notthe end of Security Council actions, nor are sanctions thefundamental way to resolve the relevant issues”.
But it is outside interests – not just regional confrontations –that could impact the situation just as heavily. With the UnitedStates threatening ever more decisive action, Pyongyang couldstrike Seoul. It has already promised to forcefully reunify the twoKoreas if the US doesn’t back off, said their Ministry of ForeignAffairs in February.
