And suddenly discovers that we are taking him at his word?
North Korea suggested Tuesday it had the ability to launch a pre-emptive attack on the United States, according to the North's official news agency.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the North had built atomic weapons to counter the U.S. nuclear threat.
"As we declared, our strong revolutionary might put in place all measures to counter possible U.S. pre-emptive strike," the spokesman said, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "Pre-emptive strike is not the monopoly of the United States."
I really like this next part, though:
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to comment on the reports.
It reminds me of something I read sometime back, though I cannot remember the specifics. France had just done something French in the colonies and an aide asked the British PM if he was going to send a message, and he replied, "No, I've sent the Marines," or something to that effect.