A rhetorical battle between the rival Koreas intensified yesterday with a South Korean official saying North Korea “must disappear soon.”
The comments, which are likely to draw a furious response from Pyongyang, followed a series of sexist and racist slurs by North Korea against the leaders of South Korea and the US.
Pyongyang’s state media likened South Korean President Park Geun-hye to an “old prostitute” and US President Barack Obama to a “monkey” in recent dispatches.
South Korean Ministry of Defense spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters at a briefing in Seoul that North Korea is not a real country and exists for the benefit of only one person, a reference to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
He said the North has no human rights or public freedom.
South Korea has been highly critical of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, including recent rocket and missile tests and apparent preparations for a fourth nuclear test.
However, the comments from Seoul yesterday are stronger than normal.
South Korea tries to avoid publicly talking about anything that could be interpreted as a collapse of the North Korean government because of worries that Pyongyang would raise tensions.
Pyongyang has been ramping up its rhetoric against Seoul and Washington since Obama and Park met in Seoul last month.
During that visit, Obama said that it may be time to consider further sanctions against North Korea and that the US will not hesitate to use its military might to defend its allies.
South Korea has called the North’s verbal insults against Park immoral and unacceptable.
The US Department of State described the North’s racist slurs against Obama as “disgusting.”
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