North Korea Ready for “Sacred War”

South Korean military drills provoke strong words from Pyongyang, but so far no armed response.

It’s shaping up to be a nervous Christmas on the Korean peninsula after Seoul went ahead with its largest ever wintertime military drills Thursday, despite protestations from the North. Near the border region that was the site of a deadly artillery exchange last month, South Korean tanks fired shells into the countryside and jets dropped bombs in a 45-minute long live-fire exercise designed to demonstrate the South’s ability to defend itself against the North’s aggression. North Korea’s state news agency quoted defence chief Kim Yong Chun as saying his country was “fully prepared to launch a sacred war” against South Korea. He also blamed Seoul for deliberately increasing tensions in the region.