North Korea threatens Seoul with 'sea of flame'

North Korea yesterday said it would attack South Korean loudspeakers and other propaganda facilities along its border, warning it could even turn the capital Seoul into a sea of flame.The general staff of the Korean People's Army made the threat in a declaration carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. It said the North would launch an all-out military strike to blow up any propaganda facilities along its border and that its retaliation would be a merciless strike foreseeing even the turn of Seoul into a sea of flame. Tensions have risen since Seoul blamed the North last month for the sinking of a navy ship that killed 46 sailors. North Korea denies involvement. In 2004 the rival Koreas ended decades of propaganda as relations warmed following a landmark summit in 2000. But South Korea resumed radio broadcasts to the North last month and installed a dozen propaganda loudspeakers along the border. The resumption of psychological warfare was part of punitive steps taken against the North over the sinking of the warship. North Korea has for years threatened the South with destruction, although it has never followed through with an all-out military assault since the 1953 armistice was concluded. Seoul, with more than ten million people, is considered vulnerable because it is well within the range of North Korean artillery.