North
Korea’s propaganda authorities have come out swinging against South Korean
Minister of National Defense Han Min Gu, comparing him to an “old rabid dog
noisily barking at the moon.”
Citing a
spokesperson for the Worker and Peasant Red Guards, the North Korean Committee for
the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland website Uriminzokkiri alleged
on July 29th that Han “cried
out for ‘punishing’ at any cost what he called the ‘origin of provocation,
supporting forces and commanding forces’, asserting that ‘[Yeonpyeong Island] is the place
where belligerency and barbarity of someone were vividly manifested.’”
Chosun Central News
Agency also published the statement.
The words
refer to Minister Han’s comment on July 20th, wherein he told one South Korean
media outlet, “As we have warned on a number of occasions, continued
provocation from North Korea will result in powerful military retaliation
against the origin, supporters and all the way to the commanders of the
operation.”
Responding
to the warning, the spokesperson retorted, “Deplorable,
indeed, is the plight of the puppet military, to say nothing of that of the
boss of [the Blue House, as President Park’s office is known] who let such an
imbecile hold the post of the army chief.”
“It is abnormal that Han, who is little
short of an insensible rabid dog and an insect going about in search of dark
places only, is allowed to claim to be part of the Korean nation,” it went on,
concluding, “Han should never forget that
the sharp bayonets of the Worker and Peasant Red Guards are waiting for a
chance to cut off the windpipes of him and other war maniacs.”
The
South has not issued an official statement in reply to yesterday’s report,
which follows another one released two days after Han’s initial comments. At
the time, Rodong Sinmun said that his call for a swift and aggressive response
to provocations amounted to “ridiculous” and “extreme” “abuse.”
The
Worker and Peasant Red Guards form part of North Korea’s extensive reserve
military force network. It’s membership consists of all men between the ages of
17 and 60 and unmarried women who are not part of Local Reserve Forces.
