"The North Korean side in a reply delivered today said it will soon start taking the steps it laid out in an earlier message delivered on March 29," the ministry spokesman, Kim Hyong-ki, told reporters.
"The message is very short. It consists of two sentences. One says it is only an excuse, which we believe is an answer to our message sent yesterday. The other sentence says they will start taking the military actions," the ministry spokesman said.
They said they will take military actions.
Kim Jong-il is in a real bad situation this year. He needs to turn it around with renewed brinkmanship. It looks as though he would feel some momentum against his regime is building and if he does not do something, he will be in a real danger. I suppose that deteriorating world economy would make it hard for Kim Jong-il to wring economic aids from N. Korea's neighbors, and his control over general population is slipping gradually despite his best efforts.
That is, both economic situation and political climate are bad. He could be more worried than he has been for last 10 years.
In that sense, uncooperative S. Korean government is a real problem to be dealt with. However, S. Korea's public sentiment on N. Korean regime is not favorable, either. Trying to extort from those who feel that they themselves are economically struggling would be tough. Apathy and outright contempt are the general mood about N. Korea.