N. Korea says it targets S. Korean media for possible attack

Published : Jun 4, 2012 - 17:13 Updated : Jun 4, 2012 - 17:22

North Korea said Monday its military has entered map coordinates of some conservative South Korean media offices as it threatened to strike their headquarters for their alleged insult to North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un.

The General Staff of the Korean People's Army said the country's troops have been targeting the Seoul headquarters of the Chosun Ilbo at coordinates of 37 degrees 56 minutes 83 seconds North latitude and 126 degrees 97 minutes 65 seconds East longitude. It also revealed the coordinates of the Joongang Ilbo and Dong-a Ilbo newspapers, as well as the KBS, MBC and SBS television stations and CBS radio.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stands next to senior military leaders during a ceremony in honor of his father, Kim Jong Il and grandfather, Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang. (AP-Yonhap News)

It is the first time the North has released coordinates of intended targets in South Korea.

"We would like to ask the Lee group if it wants to leave all this to be struck by the (North) or opt for apologizing and putting the situation under control, though belatedly," the General Staff said in an English-language ultimatum, referring to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Seoul, the South Korean capital city of more than 10 million people and home to South Korean media headquarters, is within range of North Korea's artillery.

"If the Lee group recklessly challenges our army's eruption of resentment, it will retaliate against it with a merciless sacred war of its own style as it has already declared," the General Staff said in the ultimatum carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

It also warned the North is "fully ready for everything" and "time is running out."

South Korea responded by urging North Korea to immediately stop threatening the South's media outlets. The North's move "is a grave provocative act" to South Korea's freedom and democracy, said Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk.

The latest threat was in response to some South Korean media reports critical of the North's celebration of the Korean Children's Union (KCU) under way in Pyongyang.

About 20,000 North Korean children pledged their allegiance to Kim as the North began a six-day festival on Sunday to mark the 66th anniversary of the KCU, according to Pyongyang's state media.

Some South Korean media dismissed the celebration as part of the North's attempt to win support for Kim, who took over the country following the December death of his father, long-time leader Kim Jong-il.

Channel A, a television arm of the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper, likened Kim to the late German dictator Adolf Hitler over the anniversary celebration.

The North has long bristled at any outside criticism of its leader and has made similar threats against the South over the past several months, although no actual attack has occurred.

South Korea has repeatedly vowed to avenge any North Korean attacks following two attacks by the North in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans, mostly soldiers. (Yonhap News)