North Korea’s Kim puts troops on high alert as he escalates rhetoric against South Korea

Soldiers and citizens later paraded in rows through the plaza, carrying
fluttering red flags, pumping their fists and chanting, “Let’s kill Lee
Myung-bak by tearing him to pieces.”

North Korean has made recent threats of a “sacred war” against Seoul
over US-South Korean military drills.

The threats appear to be aimed at a domestic audience, analysts say, possibly
as an effort to bolster Kim Jong Un’s credentials as a military leader after
showing off his diplomatic skills on the US nuclear deal.

Still, the rhetoric keeps the region on edge and complicates diplomatic
efforts to settle the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

North Korea has acted on its threats in the past. Fifty South Koreans died in
violence blamed on North Korea in 2010, leading to fears of a broader
conflict.

North Korea accuses the United States and South Korea of holding the joint
military drills as preparation for a northward invasion. The allies say the
military exercises, which began last week and are scheduled to end in late
April, are routine and defensive in nature.

The US and North Korea announced last week that Washington had agreed to
provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid in exchange for a freeze of North
Korea’s nuclear activities

The deal is seen as a first step toward resuming six-nation nuclear
disarmament-for-aid talks suspended in 2009, and a tentative move toward
improving the tense relationship between the wartime foes. The six-nation
talks involve the two Koreas, the US, China, Russia and Japan.

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