North Korea threatens South Korean island as tensions escalate

North Korean military forces are prepared to turn the South Korean island of Baengnyeong into a 'sea of flame', dpa cited the Communist nation's leader as saying Tuesday. The threat to the island, with a population of a little more than 4,000, marks yet another downward turn in the deteriorating relations on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has reacted to US-South Korean military drills and threats - intended to force it to give up its nuclear programmes - by threatening to unilaterally end a 1953 armistice, cut off emergency contacts and, most dangerously, launch attacks on its nemeses. Kim Jong Un made his comments while inspecting artillery positions at a nearby island, noting that it would require only the slightest provocation by South Korean forces on Baengnyeong to prompt him to blow them up. 'As soon as you hear the order ... you should show them clearly what real war is,' he said. During a last bout of Korean tensions, North Korean forces launched mortars against the South Korean island of Yonpyong in 2010, kiling two soldiers.