Yesterday, just a day after vowing to cancel the Korean War Armistice Agreement, North Korea raised the threat level once again, using ‘interviews’ with a number of officials to talk of nuclear strikes and turning both Seoul and Washington into seas of fire.

The responses to the previous day’s statement, delivered by Gen. Kim Young Chul acting as spokesperson for the Chosun People’s Army Supreme Command, were carried on the front page of Rodong Shinmun, the Chosun Workers’ Party’s official daily publication.

In it, Maj. Gen. Jung Hyun Il stated, “If the U.S. imperialists wield nukes, we will turn not only Seoul but also Washington into a sea of flames with varied Korean-style accurate nuclear strike methods unlike those of bygone years.”

Jon Yong Man, chairman of the Central Committee of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, even emphasized the desire to raise North Korean flags of victory on Mt. Halla, the volcano on Jeju Island, the Korean Peninsula’s most southerly point.

In a disjointed English translation, Jon declared, “We young people solemnly pledge to become five million rifles, ten million bombs for the Party and the leader, the fatherland and people and rush from the forefront trench to wipe out the enemies and thus to fly the flag of the Supreme Commander shining with the star of Marshal and the flag of the DPRK on the top of Mt. Halla.”

Meanwhile, Kang Ji Young of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland blamed much of the trouble on South Korean Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan Jin and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Jung Seung Jo, for being “hell bent on hurting their fellow countrymen with the backing of foreign forces.”

“The traitors should and must pay thousand-fold for the vicious confrontation racket against the national reconciliation, unity and reunification,” he said.