N. Korea Promises to Turn Seoul to Ashes

North Korea’s rhetoric is becoming increasingly violent following its failed rocket launch. The country’s military threatened Monday to turn parts of Seoul to ashes using “special actions.” The actions, according to the military, “will reduce all ... to ashes in three or four minutes ... by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style.” On Friday tens of thousands rallied in Pyongyang, calling for the death of South Korean President Lee Myoung-bak. Lee had criticized the North for spending enough on its dud rocket to buy 2.5 million tons of corn for its starving populace.