Pyongyang vows response to Seoul's policy

SEOUL, April 20 (UPI) -- North Korean officials said they would increase their saber rattling against South Korea if Seoul maintains its tough rhetoric against Pyongyang.

Choe Song Ik, the chief North Korean negotiator on reunification pacts, said South Korean President Lee Myung-bak could face more tough responses to his decisions to move away from past economic concessions, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Sunday.

Lee angered Pyongyang by linking additional economic pacts to denuclearizing the Korean peninsula and for moving to establish stronger ties to Washington.

North Korea test fired several short-range missiles March 28 and recently expelled several South Korean officials from a joint industrial complex near the shared border in response to Seoul's policy moves.

The two Koreas reached a variety of economic agreements during reconciliation talks in 2000 and 2007, including the expansion of the joint industrial complex.