North Korea has released a disturbing video depicting an apparent missile attack on the United States. The three minute video, posted on North Korea’s official YouTube channel Uriminzokkiri, features a dream sequence in which a man imagines bombs raining down upon a skyscraper lined metropolis resembling New York City. The video has amassed over 40,000 views as of Tuesday morning.
“Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing,” reads a caption in Korean. “It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself.” The final captions states: “despite all kinds of attempts by imperialists to isolate and crush us … never will anyone be able to stop the people marching toward a final victory.”
This kind of propaganda out of North Korea is certainly not uncommon. However, the depiction of an attack on the United States is extremely provocative, especially since it comes on the heels of additional ominous news out of the region. On Monday, South Korea’s U.N. ambassador stated that a North Korean nuclear test “seems to be imminent.” Ambassador Kim Sook warned that North Korea’s nuclear test site was filled with what he called “very busy activities.”
North Korea released a typically confrontational statement today:
"The DPRK [North Korea] has drawn a final conclusion that it will have to take a measure stronger than a nuclear test to cope with the hostile forces nuclear war moves that have become ever more undisguised," the North's KCNA state news agency said.
The government of South Korea and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke out in condemnation of North Korea’s recent rhetoric and actions. According to State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, Secretary Kerry and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan both agreed that “if the DPRK [North Korea] continues its provocative behavior and takes further steps, that there must be further consequences.”
North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket in December defying U.N. resolutions which banned the state from developing missile or nuclear technology. The North is currently not capable of undergoing any type of military strike against the United States. However, South Korea and Japan would be possible targets given that both nations fall well within the North’s missile range.
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