A little sabre rattling from North of the Border.

On Saturday, a dour man in military uniform appeared on North Korean television, flanked by army flags, and read a statement saying the country was now on a war-footing. He said the North would take an “all-out confrontational posture” against its neighbour.

Although North Korea regularly issues threats against the South, a spokesman for the South Korea Unification ministry said it was the most serious threat since 1998.

The television broadcast accused the South of “opting for the road to confrontation with the help of outside powers, ignoring the call for conciliation and cooperation”.

Commentators noted that the broadcast was transmitted just a few days before the inauguration of Barack Obama as US president. “North Korea wants to draw Obama’s attention,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul’s Dongguk University.

North Korea has repeatedly accused Lee Myung-Bak, the South Korean president, of being a “sycophant” to the United States.

In response to the threat, the South Korean armed forces have been told to “strengthen their alert status”. However, the South Koreans said “no particular movements by the North Korean military have been detected.”

A spokesman for the South Korean military said: “Much of the comments are the usual rhetoric and arguments that have been issued previously. North Korea talks a lot but we will have few words and instead respond with action.”

North Korea imposed border restrictions with South Korea at the start of last month, accusing the government in Seoul of taking confrontation “beyond the danger level”.

Selig Harrison, a US weapons expert returning from talks in Pyongyang, said senior North Korean officials had told him that they have “weaponised” enough plutonium for four to five nuclear weapons. He said 30.8kg of plutonium listed as part of the preliminary disarmament deal had been incorporated into warheads, according to North Korea.

Idle threats from a bankrupt regime. Unless they’re not. But this is the reason we are here, to deter the Norks from engaging in more than banter and bluster.

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Looking at the calendar just now I see it is my anniversary. Four years in Korea!

No big insights. Plodding along and the time just keeps passing me by. The fact that I’m still here says something I suppose. Yeah, I guess I’ve pretty much found my comfort zone. Now, I recognize that I’m kinda living in between two worlds here, not really part of Korea and not really in tune with my U.S. roots either. But it seems to be working and I frankly spend zero energy worrying about it. Yeah, I should be speaking the local language by now. Sue me. I’m learning new words here and there and understanding a little more than I let on, but obviously I don’t care enough to work harder at it, likely because I don’t need to.

I have friends and people I care about it here. I have my darts. I have my time alone. And yes, I do miss my family and know that with each passing day I am drifting further away from being a meaningful part of anyone’s life there.

For better or worse you only get to live one life at a time. For now, this is the one I’ve chosen and I’m going to ride it out for the next two years. Or until I die. Whichever comes first.

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I don’t write much about politics these days. Not that I don’t care, but being several thousand miles away from the Homeland does take some of the edge off the things that used to get me worked up.

So we have a new President. Not the one I would have preferred, but the only American President we got. And for that reason alone he has my respect and sincere best wishes for success in the job.

I read some pundit who said those who didn’t vote for Obama will be less disappointed in his presidency than those who did. I think that’s probably right. One of the scariest things during the election cycle was the press and Obama partisans portrayal of him as a messiah-like savior of the nation, hell the world. Well, you heard it here first folks, Obama does not walk on water. Trust me on that.

Today, I am hoping that Obama can at least live up to his predecessor’s achievments. Foremost among them is that we have not had a successful terrorist attack on American soil since that fateful September morning in 2001. I hope that Mr. Obama has the good judgment not to dismantle the tools that have made that possible.

And Bush’s steadfastness and refusal to surrender led to victory in Iraq, something Obama said couldn’t be done. I hope Obama has the political courage to see us through to victory in Afghanistan (a war he did support) as well.

Good luck Mr. Obama. God bless America.

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