Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

"No force on earth can overpower our great forces who are determined not to allow
any aggressors to dare invade the inviolable territory," Kim said in a visit to an
unidentified army unit, according to a report by the state-operated Korean Central News
Agency. Any attack on the North would come "at the risk of [the perpetrators’]
lives," he said, adding "we will wipe them out to the last one."

Increasing the "combat capability of the whole army" is "of weighty
importance," he said.

The KCNA report did not mention Bush by name. Kim’s comments, however, were
obviously a reaction to Bush’s warning to North Korea, Iran and Iraq — an
"axis of evil," he said — that the United States would do whatever
necessary to protect itself and its allies from weapons of mass destruction.

Kim’s comments followed a statement by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry on Friday
calling Bush’s comments "just short of a declaration of war." The statement
also said the North is "fully capable of fighting a war with the U.S.," and
Washington should know "that the option to ‘strike’ is not its
monopoly."

Seoul officials, however, sought to downplay the North’s war talk. One government
official, who asked not to be identified, said he believed the war of words would not
escalate into a military confrontation between the North and the United States. He said,
though, the rhetoric is "not helping to improve relations between Washington,
Pyongyang and Seoul."

The head of a conservative think tank called the Foundation for National Strategy and
Cultural Studies also said the verbal shots would not lead to war.

"The North Korean comments were predictable," said Gerald Lee, foundation
president. "They’re simply lashing out at Bush for what he said. The North
doesn’t want a war with the United States. They can’t afford it, and they know
they’re out-gunned."

He, too, said the comments by both sides were making it difficult to improve relations
on the peninsula and between Pyongyang and Washington.

Both U.S. and South Korean officials say Pyongyang is continuing to add to its
munitions stockpile and upgrade its military. The CIA also believes Pyongyang may have two
or three crude nuclear weapons.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said after Bush’s State of the Union last week
that if military action erupted on the Korean Peninsula, the United States has the
manpower and equipment to handle the job.

Bae Gi Chul contributed to this report.