Threat

North Korea Threatens War

Promises retaliation if satellite launch is blocked.

The North Korean army is on standby, and the nation issued a statement Sunday that, if anyone attempts to block a satellite launch scheduled for Monday, the communist nation will declare war on them. Many fear North Korea's launch will be disguised as a missile test. The launch is timed to coincide with the United States' annual war games with South Korea which North Korean officials suspect are rehearsals for an invasion. North Korea's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency announced today, "Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war." Speaking in the voice of the North's military, the statement said, "Our revolutionary armed forces will launch without hesitation a just retaliatory strike operation not only against all the interceptor means involved but against the strongholds" of the US, Japan, and South Korea. The US's special envoy to Pyongyang has a series of meetings scheduled with Korean leaders to deal with the threat, and is attempting to convince North Korea to cancel the launch.