Floods and sanctions crush Pyongyang

Five days of rain kill 133 people in North Korea, with hundreds of thousands displaced. South Korea announces plan to destroy the north’s capital in case of attack. Japan warns that it will not stand idle by and watch Kim’s follies. For its part, North Koera wants the US to recognise its nuclear status. Source tells AsiaNews “they are running out of basic foodstuff, and there is a risk of famine again.”

Seoul (AsiaNews) – South Korea has a plan to destroy Pyongyang in case of nuclear attack, the news agency Yonhap reported, citing South Korean military sources. The plan entails a barrage of pre-emptive missile firings against areas where North Korean dictator might hide. Meanwhile floods killed 133 people in North Korea.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense reported details about its Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) plan to the National Assembly. Yonhap noted that a ministry source said that the plan is the only possible response to the North’s latest nuclear test on Friday.

According to a spokesman, "all districts of Pyongyang, especially in those where it can be hidden the North Korean leader, will be completely destroyed by high explosive missiles and ballistic missiles in the event that North Korea shows signs of wanting to use the arsenal nuclear. In other words, the North Korean capital will be reduced to ashes and erased from the map ".

Under the plan, Pyongyang is divided into several districts that would be hit, especially certain sections in which Kim might be hiding before North Korea uses a nuclear weapon. “In other words, the North’s capital city will be reduced to ashes and removed from the map,” the source noted.

The South Korean military plans to mobilise its locally developed surface-to-surface ballistic and cruise missiles, the Hyunmoo. The Hyunmoo 2A and 2B ballistic missiles have ranges of 300 and 500 kilometers, respectively, while the Hyunmoo 3 cruise missile has a range of 1,000 kilometers.

Japan too is preparing militarily against a possible aggression. A Japanese government source told Asahi Shimbun that the government would not just look on Kim’s follies of Kim.

Meanwhile, North Korea is demanding the United States recognise it as a nuclear power. US President "Obama is trying hard to deny the DPRK's (North Korea's) strategic position as a legitimate nuclear weapons state, but it is as foolish an act as trying to eclipse the sun with a palm," the statement quoted by the official KCNA news agency said.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions since it began its nuclear tests in 2006.

According to the South Korean military, Friday’s test was estimated at 10 kilotons. By comparison, the American bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 – which is well-remembered in Asia – was about 15 kilotons.

Because of the sanctions, which have been tightened as tensions increased, North Korea seems unable to react to natural disasters affecting the population.

For the past five days, floods have killed more than 130 dead, with nearly 400 missing and more than 100,000 displaced, this according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

North Korean authorities confirmed 133 deaths and 395 missing. More than 35,500 homes were damaged, 69 per cent of them completely destroyed.

A source in Korea told AsiaNews that "they are running out of basic foodstuff, and there is a risk of famine again.”

• north korea
• south korea
• missile test
• floods
• japan
• nuclear test
• provocations