North Korea to South, US: We'll Attack You Mercilessly

It's a day of threats from North Korea: First, the country vowed to fire into South Korea if the South continues to launch balloons into North Korea that are loaded with leaflets about the anti-government uprisings in the Middle East, reports Reuters. "We officially notify that our army will stage a direct fire at the Rimjin Pavilion ," an area near the DMZ, in order to destroy sources of " psychological warfare ... on the principle of self-defense, if such actions last despite our repeated warning," said North Korea's official news agency.

Then, North Korea issued more threats, this time to the US and the South, who are preparing to start annual joint military drills tomorrow. The North, calling the drills a rehearsal for an invasion and a "dangerous military scheme," said that if provoked it would start a "full-scale" war, take "merciless counteraction," and turn Seoul into a "sea of flames. "The army and people of (North Korea) will return bolstered nuclear deterrent of our own style for the continued nuclear threat by the aggressors," its military said in a statement. The AP notes that North Korea routinely issues threats like these. (More North Korea stories.)