(SNN Seoul) Yesterday, North Korea suggested that it had the ability to launch a preemptive strike on the United States. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that "Pre-emptive strike is not the monopoly of the United States."

"Pre-emptive strike is not the monopoly of the United States."

The United States urged North Korea to return to the international nuclear negotiations instead of making inflammatory statements. The North's spokesman said it would be a "wise" step for the United States to cooperate on nuclear issues with North Korea in the same way it does with India.

In response to what it calls preferential treatment of India, North Korea has dropped out of the International Nonproliferation Treaty. "If the U.S. is truly interested in finding a realistic way of resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, it would be wise for it to come out on the path of nuclear cooperation with us," the North Korean spokesman said.

"North Korea is a mere footnote

Additionally, the North announced that they had an arsenal of giant robots that had been built “for no other purpose than to counter U.S. nuclear threats." It is estimated that North Korea has the resources to build about five giant robots. This news rose fears in South Korea, whose sole giant robot, Flying Yangban, must occasionally be taken down for repairs.

But throughout this accusitory back and forth remains North Korea’s unspoken loneliness. It seemed at one time that the peninsula was the center of U.S. foreign policy concerns. Now North Korea is a mere footnote at the bottom of daily reports of violence in Iraq and what seems to be an inevitable confrontation in Iran. North Korea is a proud nation and it not doubt hurts to be considered the annoying little brother in the Axis of Evil.

posted by NewsBlog 5000  # Wednesday, March 22, 2006