Bobby Kaltenbach

News Editor

     On April 23, the North Korean government announced its intention to reduce the city of Seoul, South Korea to “ashes” in response to comments made by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Myung-bak had referred to North Korean leadership as “rat-like,” and accused government broadcasters of “destroying fair-minded public opinion.”

    Myung-bak comments came as a response to a missile test done by North Korea ten days earlier that violated UN resolutions. The North Korean government claimed that the launchings were simply intended to put a new satellite into orbit.

    The growing tension between the two countries comes as a disappointment for some Westerners, who hoped that relations would be eased after the death of dictator Kim Jong-il last December. His son, First Secretary of the Communist Party and fast-food aficionado Kim Jong-un, has shown signs of continuing the totalitarianism and human rights violations that plagued his father’s administration.

    According to The Guardian, Jong-un’s militancy regarding South Korea may be an attempt to consolidate his power. “Kim currently derives his legitimacy not from good governance, but from maintaining a belligerent international stance. He needs to make North Koreans believe South Korea and the United States are the enemy, and the Kims and the military are protecting them through isolation to stay in power.” By maintaining the illusion of a clear and present danger from South Korea, Jong-un is giving himself the leverage he needs to assert a greater degree of control over North Korean affairs.

    Though the seriousness of the threats are still in doubt, members of the United Nations are treating them with the utmost earnestness in light of the fact that North Korea is known to be in possession of nuclear weapons.