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North Korea threatens 'merciless' strike on South over propaganda leaflets

South Korea

North Korea yesterday threatened a "merciless" military strike on South Korea next week, prompting a swift vow of retaliation from Seoul in a serious escalation of cross-border tensions.

The Korean People's Army (KPA) said it would launch the attack if North Korean defectors in the South went ahead with plans to scatter anti-regime leaflets on Monday from balloons floated over the border.

The threat came a day after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited an island close to the disputed maritime frontier that was shelled by the North two years ago.

"The moment a minor movement for the scattering is captured ... a merciless military strike by the Western Front will be put into practice without warning," the KPA said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

A group of North Korean defectors plan to carry out the leaflet exercise on Monday before noon at the border near the town of Paju, around 60 kilometres north of Seoul.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Tensions rise as North vows 'merciless' strike
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