N. Korea Threatens to 'Blow up' Seoul Over Hurt Pride

RIA Novosti

11:07 19/04/2012 MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea has threatened military action against the South unless Seoul apologizes for "insulting" last week's celebrations of the centenary of the birth of its late founding leader Kim Il-sung.

Pyongyang said it will wage a "sacred war to wipe out the group of the Lee Myung-bak group of traitors" and "blow up everything" in Seoul, in a series of statements carried by the official KCNA news agency.

The threats follow comments by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak last week that the North's failed rocket launch cost Pyongyang about $850 million, and that it could have spent the money towards buying 2.5 million tons of corn, the Korea Times reported North Korea has suffered from acute food shortages since a famine in the 1990s.

South Korea also said a further $350 million went towards "propaganda purposes" and renovating a landmark hotel for the centenary festivities, the equivalent of feeding the North's 24 million people for 100 days.

Pyongyang said the rocket would put an earth observation satellite into orbit, but the United States said it was cover for a missile technology test.

The UN Security Council condemned the launch earlier this week and ordered fresh sanctions.