N. Korea Threatens South Over Leaflets

North Korea warned Friday South Korea should immediately stop spreading anti-North propaganda leaflets in the communist state to prevent worsening inter-Korean ties from leading to “a catastrophic phase.”  The warning by the North’s delegation to the inter-Korean military working-level talks came in a message sent to the South Korean military.

“If they do not want the present inter-Korean relations to lead to a catastrophic phase, they should take immediate steps to stop all forms of reckless scattering of leaflets at once,” the message carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency said.  [Yonhap]

Apparently, Kim Jong Il expects the South Koreans to go back to beating up the people who launch the leaflet balloons.  Note that the North Koreans’ phrasing is designed to do three things:  (a) to sound spontaneous; (b) to terrorize; and (c) to allow its defenders just enough room to deny that it’s directly threatening an attack. 

There is room for debate about the degree to which  North Korea sponsors terrorism, mostly because the State Department and the Administration  choose not to  ask the Directorate of National Intelligence to report to Congress on what the GAO found.  There is much less room to debate that the North Korean government habitually and regularly uses its state broadcasting media to engage in direct terrorism,  particularly just before South Korean elections. 

Rather than de-listing North Korea as a sponsor of terrorism, Congress ought to designate the North Korean government as a specially designated terrorist organization.