SEOUL, South Korea—When North Korea makes threats to nuke its enemies, as it has twice over the last several days, outsiders often have one of two reactions: to dismiss it as yet another example of empty propaganda or to panic.
There are good reasons to do neither. There are many ways the North can retaliate that fall short of war, nuclear or conventional.
North Korea’s latest warning came Monday in response to the beginning of annual South Korean-U.S. military drills, and included vows to turn its enemies into “seas in flames and ashes” with nuclear missiles aimed at South Korea, U.S. bases in the Pacific and the U.S. mainland.
Pyongyang always responds furiously to the springtime South Korean-U.S. drills, which it views as an invasion rehearsal. This year’s drills are the largest ever, meant to respond to the North’s recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing unidentified military sources, reported that the allies will work on drills for precision attacks on North Korean leadership and its nuclear and missile arsenal in the event of war.
The first thing to keep in mind is that Pyongyang’s near-term nuclear warnings are mostly bluff; more of a strong deterrent that Pyongyang can use in its propaganda, rather than an actual sign of imminent war.
