NK Threatens to Make Seoul `Sea of Flames`

North Korea has threatened to turn Seoul into a “sea of flames” for the first time in 16 years and destroy South Korea’s propaganda loudspeakers along the Demilitarized Zone.

The South’s military completed installing propaganda loudspeakers last week at 11 places along the inter-Korean border to resume psychological warfare against the North as part of retaliation for Pyongyang’s sinking of the South Korean naval ship Cheonan.

The General Staff of the (North) Korean People’s Army said a “stern military strike” on the loudspeakers will not be a one-to-one response under the “principle of proportions” championed by Seoul’s “traitorous group.” The North Korean military said the South should know that military retaliation is a “merciless strike even foreseeing the turning of Seoul, the stronghold of the group of traitors, into a sea of flames.”

Calling the South’s installation of psychological warfare equipment a “direct declaration of war” against the North, the North threatened an all-out military strike to eliminate the means of psychological warfare on all fronts.

The North first made the “sea of flames” threat at inter-Korean working-level talks in March 1994, prompting Seoul to specify Pyongyang as its “main enemy” in a national defense whitepaper.

In the wake of the latest threat, the South Korean military strengthened its alert posture along the inter-Korean border. An official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said the North’s military has shown no unusual signs, but that South Korea and the U.S. are fully operating their intelligence networks to monitor any movement.

zeitung@donga.com srkim@donga.com