North Korea has invoked its vitriolic rhetoric of turning the South Korean capital into a “sea of fire” as it raises the level of threats against the South after blowing up the inter-Korean liaison office on Tuesday. 

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Wednesday that it can revert to its pledge to turn Seoul into a sea of fire, followed by even more horrible threats depending on whether the South watches its language.  

The outlet also warned the South to keep in mind that the sound of the joint liaison office being destroyed can be a prelude to the “total collapse of North-South relations.” 

The warnings came in an apparent response to the expression of regret by the South Korean Unification Ministry over the demolition of the joint office, which had served as a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation since its opening following the April, 2018 inter-Korean summit.  

The North first used the “sea of fire” expression in 1994 after the North expelled international nuclear inspectors and had been frequently brought up since then as Pyongyang issued a new threat against Seoul.