More Threats: "North Korea Warns Foreigners in South of Nuclear War"

NYTimes headline: "North Korea Warns Foreigners in South of Nuclear War"

As North Korea warned foreigners on Tuesday that they might want to leave South Korea because the peninsula was on the brink of nuclear war — a statement that the United States Embassy in Seoul and analysts dismissed as hyperbole — the American commander in the Pacific expressed worries that the North’s young leader, Kim Jong-un, might not have left himself an easy exit to reduce tensions.

More from The Chosun Ilbo here:

Threatening a "merciless sacred retaliatory war," the spokesman said the North "does not want to see foreigners in South Korea hurt in the case of war."

Along with its threats,  North Korea appears to have at the ready the missiles that were discussed here, as set out here:

North Korea has finished preparations to launch one or two Musudan medium-range missiles that have been moved to an area on the east coast.

South Korean military authorities worry that the North could also launch other short- and medium-range missiles.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government instructed the Self-Defense Forces to get ready to intercept any North Korean missiles. The U.S. is also getting ready to intercept any missiles that head toward its base in Guam.

"We've discovered that the North finished preparations to launch two Musudan missiles after moving them to an area near Wonsan by train from Jamjin Missile Plant in Nampo last week," a government source in Seoul said Tuesday. "They seem to be ready for launch four to six hours after being injected with liquid fuel."

I wonder what would happen if something were to happen to missiles on the launcher?

Even Fidel Castro is urging caution on the NORKs part, as set out here.

I wonder if Professor Cumings is writing a piece on the "North Korean nuclear bullying?"

Finally, if anyone wonders why it would be a really bad idea for Iran to have a nuke - this Korean mess ought to be a eye-opener.

UPDATE: From The Wall Street Journal: