Two key North Korean agencies threatened a "sacred war of retaliation" against South Korea on Monday. In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Public Security and the State Security Department said what they claimed were South Korean attempts to topple the North Korean regime "have gone beyond the danger line." "A sacred war of retaliation to wipe out insidious elements has already begun," they fulminated.The statement threatened "comprehensive measures to frustrate antinational and anti-unification maneuvers by the rabble" in South Korea "who are seeking to overthrow" the North Korean regime "and trigger internal disintegration." "We are keeping a world-class, ultramodern strike force and security tools that have not been disclosed yet," they claimed.
It was the first joint statement by the two security agencies and came even as officials from the two sides were talking about the resumption of lucrative package tours to the North's Mt. Kumgang resort. Already on Jan. 15, Pyongyang threatened a "sacred war of retaliation" while accepting 10,000 tons of food aid from Seoul.
In Monday's statement, the two agencies listed a slew of grievances, including a South Korean contingency plan in the event of regime collapse in the North, and a skirmish that ended in defeat for North Korean Navy near the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border in the West Sea, as well as propaganda activities by South Korean campaigners.