When the powerful international bully sets a bad example, it is only natural that petulant delinquents follow that example. Here is a lead story from ABC Online today. See paragraph 3 in particluar.

Fri, Feb 14 2003 10:15 AM AEDT

North Korea has responded defiantly to the announcement that the United Nations Security Council will examine its nuclear program. Pyongyang has warned it can attack American targets anywhere in the world. A senior foreign ministry official demanded the Security Council also investigate America's nuclear weapons program.

"The US is threatening our country with nuclear weapons, so this must also be discussed," Ri Kwang Hyok said in Pyongyang. The spokesman went on to warn that his country is capable of striking US targets anywhere in the world. "The strike force of the Korean People's Army will take on the enemy wherever he is," he said.

"It is not just the US that has the right to launch pre-emptive attacks. We can also take some defensive measures."

The defiant comments came after the International Atomic Energy agency voted to refer the nuclear crisis to the UN Security Council.