North Korea recently threatened “special actions” on the South Korean capital of Seoul, promising to turn Seoul into ashes.

The North accused Seoul’s government of insulting their attempted rocket launch, and the 100th anniversary of the country’s late founder, Kim Il-sung.  Demonstrations in Seoul criticized the North Korean government for spending $850 million on a rocket to celebrate the anniversary, when its people are suffering from food shortages.

The rocket was supposed to put a satellite into orbit, but it disintegrated two minutes after launch.

No incidents have been reported between the North and South, but the increasingly violent dialogue between nations indicates that military may soon become involved.

According to the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the North’s targets include “the Lee Myung-Bak group of traitors, the arch criminals, and the group of rat-like elements including conservative media destroying the mainstay of the fair public opinion.”

A disturbing aspect of the threat was the fact that the North offered specific details about the nature of their attack.  They will “reduce all…to ashes in three or four minutes…by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style.”

One analyst believes that the North may follow through on its threats.  “The easiest option will be cyber terror…but we may have to guard against actual terrorist actions,” said Cheong Seong-Chang of South Korea’s Sejong Institute think-tank to AFP.  “This time, I think there’s a high possibility that the North’s words, unlike in the past, will actually lead to specific actions.”

Baek Seung-Joo of the South’s Korea Institute for Defense Analyses told AFP, “I’m worried about military provocations by North Korea.”

If the North does decide to attack, however, the South is prepared to defend itself.  According to the Yonhap News Agency, South Korea has vowed to retaliate against the North if provoked.  The South wants revenge on the North for its two previous attacks in 2010, which killed 50 South Koreans.