South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, however, "no unusual activity" has currently been spotted from North Korea along the military demarcation line.
South Korea completed the installation of propaganda loudspeakers in 11 places along the heavily-fortified demilitarized zone earlier this week in retaliation to the March 26 sinking of one of the South's military warships, for which Seoul blames Pyongyang. The North denies involvement.
North Korean armed forces "will launch an all-out military strike to blow up the group's means for the psychological warfare against the DPRK in all areas along the front," the North's General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in a "crucial declaration" carried in the North's Korean Central News Agency. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea has already warned it will shoot down loudspeakers if the broadcasts resume, but it's the first time to employ the "sea of flame" warning since 1994.
The North's military did not specify when it will put its threats into action.
Seoul has yet to begin the anti-North Korea broadcasts. Officials said the broadcasts will begin after the U.N. Security Council carries out its action over the ship sinking. The psychological warfare was stopped in a 2004 inter-Korean agreement amid thawing ties.
"From a military point of view that a psychological warfare is one of the basic operational forms for carrying out a war, the installing of such means for the above-said warfare is a direct declaration of a war against the DPRK," the General Staff said.
"It should bear in mind that the military retaliation of the DPRK is a merciless strike foreseeing even the turn of Seoul, the stronghold of the group of traitors, into a sea of flame," it warned.
South Korea asked the U.N. Council last week to take up the sinking. South Korea will brief the Council next week on the results of its probe assisted by the U.S., Britain, Australia, and Sweden. The multinational team concluded that a North Korean submarine sank the warship Cheonan with a torpedo, saying hard evidence was found, including torpedo parts collected from the scene.
Key to getting the Council to rebuke the North is winning support from Pyongyang's traditional backers China and Russia. The two countries have expressed reservations about censuring the North.
The latest North Korean warning prompted South Korea to keep a closer watch over the tense border, bracing for the possibility of accidental clashes.
"No unusual activity has been spotted yet," an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on condition of anonymity. "Directive has been issued to frontline units to strengthen their vigilance over the North and closely watch for any North Korean military moves."
In an inter-Korean meeting in 1994, a North Korean delegation chief warned that Seoul, just 50 km south of the border, may turn into the "sea of flames" if a war breaks out. Security fears heightened in South Korea, and the following year it referred to the North as its "main enemy" for the first time in its defense white papers.//Yonhap
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com