North Korea Threatens "Merciless Military Strike," Kim Jong-Un's Nephew Speaks Out
KCNA (North Korea), YONHAP (South Korea), YLEISRADIO (Finland)
North Korea announced Friday that it would launch a "merciless military strike" on South Korea, if the country allows anti-North activists to disseminate propaganda leaflets in the communist country next week.
Yonhap news agency, citing the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), quoted the warning statement by the North's Western Front Command of the Korean People's Army: "The moment a minor movement for the scattering is captured in Imjim Pavilion and in its vicinity, merciless military strike by the Western Front will be put into practice without warning."
Yonhap is reporting that South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin has in turn declared that any attacks would be met with retaliatory fire.
"If such provocation takes place, the South is fully prepared to take out the source of the attack," Kim said.
South Korean activists regularly send over balloons carrying leaflets criticizing the communist regime.
The announcement is likely to strain relations between the two nations, despite continuing reforms in the communist country by Kim Jong-un.
The grandson of the late former leader Kim Jong-il and nephew of current leader Kim Jong-un gave a rare interview to Finnish television station Yleisradio this week.
Kim Han-sol, 17, was speaking to former Under-Secretary-General Elisabeth Rehn in Mostar, Bosnia, where he studies at the United World College (UWC).
After his birth in Pyongyang in 1995, he spent most of his childhood in Macau and China, leading an "isolated" life. He never met his grandfather or his uncle.
His father Kim Jong-nam is thought to have fallen out of favor with the communist regime in 2001 after he was caught attempting to enter Japan with a fake passport, supposedly in order to visit Disneyland Tokyo.
In the interview, he said he wanted to "make things better" for the people in North Korea and he plans on working for humanitarian projects. You can watch the interview in English below:
