North Korea Threatens Retaliation If South Carries Out Military Drills

Pyongyang vowed to launch another attack if the South goes through with military drills on the island of Yeonpyeong this weekend.

Would you play chicken with a country armed with nuclear weapons? That’s the scenario shaping up on the maritime border between North and South Korea, where the South is planning to go ahead with military drills this weekend despite dire warnings from Pyongyang. A North Korean military official promised “unpredictable self-defensive strikes” if the drills are carried out, and said retaliation would be more intense than the barrage the North’s army unleashed on Yeonpyeong on Nov. 23. That strike on the South Korean-held island killed four people and dramatically increased tensions between the two countries. In an attempt to calm the situation, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was in North Korea Friday acting as an unofficial American envoy.