The Boston Herald March 31, 2013

Experts shrug at N. Korea’s latest declaration of ‘war’

By Erin Smith

Security experts dismissed as rhetoric North Korea’s declaration of “a state of war” with South Korea and the latest threats to shut down a profitable border factory complex run jointly by the two neighboring nations.

“What foolishness! We have been at a state of war with North Korea for 63 years,” said John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org. “They’re running out of things to say.”

The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Naval skirmishes in the disputed waters off the Korean coast have led to bloody battles several times over the years.

“North Korea has a long history of making threatening noises. In virtually no case have the threats materialized,” said Andrew J. Bacevich, Boston University International Relations professor and a retired U.S. Army colonel. “Few observers believe that the North Korea rhetoric will translate into any action. In all likelihood, the intended audience is a domestic one.”

The dictator-led nation also threatened to shut down the jointly run Kaesong industrial park, expressing anger over media reports suggesting the complex remained open because it was a source of hard currency for the impoverished North.

Dozens of South Korean firms run factories in the border town of Kaesong, where hundreds of managers from the south cross the border for work. Using North Korea’s cheap, efficient labor, the Kaesong complex produced $470 million in goods last year.

Pike said closing the factories would be a last resort for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because they make money.

But if North Korea decides to take the unprecedented step of accompanying the threats with missile strikes, it could lead to a military escalation on the Korean Peninsula, he said.

Pike said, “My only concern is that they’re running out threats and eventually threats have to be followed by action or you look like a fool.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.