North vows retaliation for 'hideous provocation'

SEOUL (AP):

North Korea's military vowed yesterday to retaliate for anti-Pyongyang signs posted at front-line South Korean army units, as rare talks between the rivals on a stalled joint tourism project broke down.

North Korea also has been releasing water from a dam southward without prior notice since Monday night, Seoul officials said. A release on the same river caused a surge that killed six South Koreans in 2009.

The North's Korean People's Army issued its military warning via state media, promising "merciless military retaliatory measures" until South Korea apologises and removes signs that it says "seriously hurt the dignity of the leadership" of North Korea.

The "hideous provocation" was "perpetrated only by hooligans who go wild like 'puppies knowing no fear of a tiger,'" an unidentified spokesman for the KPA's Supreme Command said.

Earlier yesterday, an unidentified North Korean government spokesman warned of a "sacred war" against South Korea over the signs.