It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

OOPS, OUR MISTAKE: A recently reported North Korean declaration concerning nuclear weapons is clarified.

North Korea clarified a statement today made in a weekend radio broadcast that appeared to claim publicly for the first time that the country possesses nuclear weapons.

The unusual rectification followed a flurry of statements of concern in the region over the radio commentary, which was widely interpreted as saying that North Korea "has come to have nuclear and other strong military weapons to deal with increased nuclear threats by the U.S. imperialists."

In a commentary broadcast today by the official Korean Central Broadcasting Station, however, instead of saying it had come to have the weapons, the government said it was "entitled" to have nuclear arms because of what it said were continuing threats from the United States.

"To safeguard our sovereignty and right to exist we are entitled to have powerful military countermeasures, including nuclear weapons," the passage read in its entirety.

The difference in the language between the Sunday and today's messages hung on as little as a single syllable in the Korean language, a nuance attributable by some to regional differences in pronunciation, which led to dramatically different readings of the initial commentary.

The fate of nations determined by a syllable! Scary!