A senior Obama administration official told CBS News Friday that North
Korea's belligerent words and war-like preparations are more bluff than
bite.
"North Korea is in a mindset of war, but North Korea is not
going to war," said the official, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity to offer insight into the latest administration thinking on
the volatile situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The official said
North Korea is doing two things that signal it is not spoiling for war:
maintaining continuous and unfettered access to the Kaesong Industrial
Complex six miles north of the Demilitarized Zone and by continuing to
promote tourists visits to North Korea, even amid its banging of war
drums.
"There is pot-banging and chest-thumping, but they have
literature attracting tourists that explicitly says pay no attention to
all that (public) talk about nuclear war or another kind of war," the
official said.
Kaesong is a hive of business activity and about
200 South Koreans travel there daily. It produces about $2 billion of
annual trade and commerce revenue for the North. Many experts consider
its fate and status the best signal of North Korea's hostile intentions.
On
Saturday, the North renewed its threat to close the complex, reportedly
saying through its state-controlled news agency that references to its
ongoing operation as a source of capital "damages our dignity."
Still,
as long as access to Kaesong remains open, the consensus, also shared
by the White House, is the North Korean threat is less than meets the
eye.
"The widely held belief is this is for internal purposes,"
the official said, referring to North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un's need
to increase his visibility and the military's sense of his commitment
to its prestige and national authority.
And yet, the official
confirmed South Korea reports of increased activity by North Korean
military personnel near ballistic missile sites. Kim has placed those
missile sites on stand-by alert and said it was time to "settle
accounts" with the "imperialist" United States. The administration
official said the activity, though, was believed to be related solely to
exercises and training - not actual war preparations.
"North
Korea is in its training cycle, and North Korea is gearing up for some
kind of fireworks," the official said. "It will either be a Roman Candle
or a rocket. But, either way, that will happen explicitly within the
context of training."
The official's comments came amid reports that North Korea announced it was at a "state of war."
In
response to those reports, Caitlin Hayden, a National Security Council
spokeswoman, said the U.S. takes the threat seriously but also called
the North's statement "unconstructive."
North Korea said
on Saturday that it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in a
continuing escalation of tough rhetoric against Seoul and Washington
after coming under international sanctions for its nuclear test.
"From this time on, the North-South
relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised
between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," a
statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency said.
KCNA said the statement was issued jointly by the North's government, ruling party and other organisations.
North
Korea has been threatening to attack the South and US military bases
almost on a daily basis since the beginning of March, when US and South
Korean militaries started routine drills, and has ordered its armed
forces on the highest alert.
But the impoverished state has kept a
joint industrial zone that is the source of hard currency where
hundreds of South Korean workers and vehicles enter daily after crossing
the rival Koreas' heavily armed border