The provocations touched off public resentment against the south Korean regime.

Jang In Gap, a 51-year-old resident in Taesong District, Pyongyang, told KCNA the DPRK people are enraged at the south Korean regime for having insulted the social system and dignity of the DPRK again. The grave provocation deserves a stern punishment, he said.

Kim Kwang Gun, vice-minister of Machine-building Industry, said south Korean frontline units, including "Skull with Cross Bones", put up slogans and placards slandering the DPRK.

The architect of the provocation is none other than traitor Lee Myung Bak and military bosses, he noted. The provocation is tantamount to a downright challenge to the DPRK and a declaration of war, he said, adding:

The provocations the south Korean regime has committed one after another in June are premeditated plots against the fellow countrymen in the north.

During the office of Lee persistently pursuing antagonism towards the north and dependence on outside forces, no progress has been made in the effort of the Korean nation for the country's reunification, peace and stability.

Ryang Jong Gum, a lecturer of the National House of Class Education, said it is the DPRK people's view that the dignity of the leadership is precisely the dignity and honor common to the nation and defending it is their obligation.

The south Korean regime slandering even the dignity of the DPRK leadership and seeking confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north is the Korean nation's common foe who should be punished without delay, she added.