North Korea declared their intentions this week to reduce South Korea “to ashes” in less than four minutes. This threat was made by the North Korean military at a time of heightened tensions and a failed rocket launch by the North.

It is rumored that Pyongyang might conduct a nuclear test in the near future. Meanwhile the North Korean military has vowed, in a newly released statement, to begin “special actions” against the South’s government and conservative media companies that would “reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations, to ashes in three or four minutes, (או) in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style.” North Korea often threatens and criticizes the government in Seoul. They mentioned they will wage a “sacred war” against the South.

Reports by the state-run North Korean Central News Agency say that South Korean President Lee Myung-bak had insulted the North’s April 15 celebrations of the birth centennial of national founder Kim Il Sung. This report and the accusations was unusual in that the North promised something soon and mentioned a specific period of time for the destruction, כלומר; “three or four minutes.”

Seoul, South Korea expressed concern over the increasing rhetoric saying “We urge North Korea to immediately stop this practice.” The Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk told reporters, “We express deep concern that the North’s threats and accusations have worsened inter-Korean ties and heightened tensions.”

No military movements have been spotted in the North. Some strategists think the North may be planning terrorist attacks against the South. Kim Young-soo, a professor at Sogang University in Seoul said, “It would not be wise to launch a large-scale military attack against Seoul, which is backed by nearly 30,000 מתגורר בארה"ב. troops stationed in the South.”

Friendly relations between the Koreas have been bad since Lee took office in 2008 with a policy that ended aid shipments to the North.