North Korea came out swinging on Monday against the South Korean government, promising to “burn down” Lee Myung Bak and the country’s conservative media “within three to four minutes, or shorter than that, by unprecedented means.”

The threats, which are stronger than the normal anti-Lee rhetoric that comes from the country’s media each day, followed a speech made by the South Korea president on Friday and were broadcast in a special news TV bulletin. It was also carried by state radio.

Here’s a clip from the English-language program of the Voice of Korea.

[audio:https://www.northkoreatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/120423-vok.mp3|titles=Voice of Korea, April 23]

The Special Operation Action Team of the Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army issued an announcement on April 23rd entitled, “Dangerous, provocative insanity of the traitors beyond the limit is no longer intolerable.”

The announcement said: Traitor Lee Myung Bak and his group of rats are working mischievously working here and there without coming to themselves as yet.

On April 20th, Lee Myung Bak showed up at the Unification Education Institute, a den of rats in Suyu-dong, Kangbuk-district, Seoul, and impudently said, now the north needs not only bread but also freedom and human rights of individuals and they should go in the direction of paying attention to the change of the system of the north if we do not give up nuclear and missile development.

He also said, in order to improve the living of the inhabitants of the north, they should force dissolution of the cooperative farms and inforcement of agrarian reform.

Earlier, on April 19, he turned up at the puppet Defense Science Institute and fielding a few clumsy missiles bragged: they have precision and power enough to immediately strike any part of our sacred republic, and perpetrated such serious, provocative insanity of imprudently taking about strike of the supreme leadership through the windows of office.

The puppet Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan Jin and other military warhawks danced to his tune.

In the meantime, newspaper Dong-A Ilbo, KBS, MBC, YTN and other conservative media, which have long been reduced to waiting maids of the traitors, are disgracefully publicizing the dirty acts of the rats.

Concerning the daily aggravating situation, the Special Operation Action Team of the Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army has been authorized to announce that special actions of our revolutionary armed forces will start soon to smash the senseless challenges of the traitors.

Our special actions are an eruption of the infuriated people’s sentiments and sacred war of the army and people to defend the dignity of our supreme leadership.

The targets of the special actions are the main culprit traitor Lee Myung Bak and his clan, and the rats including the conservative mass media, gnawing at the cross beam of unbiased public opinion.

The special actions of our revolutionary armed forces, once they have begun, will immediately burn down the gang of rats and sources of provocations within three to four minutes, or shorter than that by unprecedented means and in our own way.

Our revolutionary armed forces do not say an empty word. — Voice of Korea, in English, April 23rd, 1000 GMT

The announcement doesn’t mention what this special action could be.

In a Twitter message, Steve Herman, the Seoul correspondent for Voice of America, relayed some speculation he’d been hearing: “Some sources I’m speaking with (in & out of gov’t) speculate the threat could indicate plans for a big cyber attack on ROK from DPRK.”

The radio broadcast continued with news of armed rallies of the people against Lee Myung Bak, meetings of union workers to denounce Lee Myung Bak, and the general indignation of the Korean people about Lee Myung Bak.

All of the meetings were apparently held after the special statement of the KPA was broadcast, according to Voice of Korea. The continued broadcast is below, but I haven’t transcribed that.

[audio:https://www.northkoreatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/120423-vok-02.mp3|titles=Voice of Korea, April 23]