N. Korea renews threat to launch 'physical action' against S. Korea

(ATTN: RECASTS throughout with more quotes and background; CHANGES headline) SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea threatened Monday that it will no longer engage with South Korea and will retaliate against Seoul for anti-Pyongyang "psychological warfare." "The army and people of the (North) will never deal with traitor Lee Myung-bak and his clan," the North's powerful National Defense Commission said in a statement, referring to the South Korean president by name. The commission headed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il also renewed a warning that the North "will take physical action without any notice any time against any target to cope with the anti-(North Korea) psychological warfare." In April, North Korea threatened to launch "unpredictable and merciless" fire against South Korea over anti-Pyongyang leaflets. South Korean activists and defectors, however, have continued to send hundreds of thousands of leaflets calling for a popular revolt to topple Kim, which the North sees as psychological warfare against it. The latest harsh rhetoric came just days after Kim called for the easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula during his summit talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing. Kim has said his country sincerely hopes for improved relations with South Korea, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. The North's statement, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, also represents the latest escalation of tensions on the peninsula following the North's sinking of a South Korean warship and shelling of a front-line South Korean island last year. South Korea has repeatedly pressed the North to offer an apology for its two deadly attacks before improving inter-Korean relations and resuming the international talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs. "We will maintain our policy toward the North and make efforts to get the North to return to dialogue" a South Korean government official said on condition of anonymity, citing office policy. The official noted that the North has a track record of employing such tactics as threat, provocations and dialogue offensive to achieve its policy objectives. The North has repeatedly expressed its interest in returning to the disarmament-for-aid talks that it quit in 2009, but it has adamantly refused to take responsibility for the attacks that killed 50 South Koreans. The North's statement also said it will cut off military communication lines with South Korea in the east and shut down its liaison office in Kumgang, a scenic mountain resort in the North that was an attraction for South Korean tourists. The militaries of two Koreas still maintain functioning communication lines in the west and their Red Cross societies operate a separate telephone line in the border village of Panmunjom. The closure of the North's liaison office in Kumgang appears unlikely to have any significant impact on the South as Seoul has already suspended the joint tour program since 2008 when a female South Korean tourist was shot dead.