China on Wednesday dismissed North Korea's threat to scrap the
armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. "The armistice has
played an important role in peace and stability on the Korean
Peninsula," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying
told reporters. On Tuesday, North Korea threatened to use
"precision nuclear strikes" to create a "sea of fire," the
latest in a long line of similar threats. As long ago as March
1994, when North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty, the North said "Seoul is not too far away.
If a war breaks out, it will become a sea of fire." North
Korea's threats intensified after it conducted its first nuclear
test in October of 2006. On Mar 30, 2008, Pyongyang varied its
rhetoric slightly by promising to turn South Korea into a "pile
of ashes" if North Korea launched a preemptive strike. And on
Feb. 19 this year, a week after North Korea conducted its third
nuclear test, Pyongyang warned of "final destruction."