North Korea threatened to “mercilessly punish” South Korean president Lee Myung-bak for his “hideous provocative” comment targeting the North’s excessive spending on centenary celebrations for national founder Kim Il-Sung, North Korea's KCNA said on Sunday.
“The service personnel and people of the DPRK are shaking with irrepressible resentment at the group which defamed the father of the nation whom they are holding in high esteem as the sun. They are now eagerly waiting for the issue of an order so that they may mercilessly punish the traitor,” KCNA said in a statement.
The threats come after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said two weeks ago that the North's failed rocket launch cost Pyongyang about $850 million, and that it could have been better used to buy food for the country's people.
“Traitor Lee Myung-bak, however, let loose a string of such malignant invectives that can be uttered only by a shark that the north might spend a ridiculous amount of money for the celebrations of the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung and that amount of fund would be enough to buy a large quantity of food," KCNA reported.
"This was, indeed, a hideous provocative act of seriously hurting the noble feelings of the Korean people,” it said.
South Korea also said a further $350 million went for "propaganda purposes" and renovation of a landmark hotel for the centenary festivities, the equivalent of feeding the North's 24 million people for 100 days.
Pyongyang angered the international community as it announced a rocket launch to kick off the nationwide celebrations. The Unha-3 rocket - which the North said would put a satellite into orbit - was launched from the country’s northwest early on April 12. It crashed into the Yellow Sea shortly after liftoff, the United States, South Korea, Japan and other countries observing the launch said.
