South Korea called on North Korea to stop its belligerent rhetoric Friday, dismissing its latest threat to "turn Seoul into ashes" as preposterous.

In response to the closest-ever flight of two armed US B-1B bombers to North Korea on Wednesday, the communist regime said the following day the nuclear warheads fired by the Korean People's Army will completely reduce Seoul into ashes.

"It is absurd that North Korea, which has threatened the peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the world with nukes and missiles, (again) talks about turning Seoul into ashes," the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.

"We will sternly and strongly retaliate if provoked," it added.

One of the two B-1B Lancers landed on Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, after flying over South Korea. The other bomber returned to Andersen Air Base in Guam.

It was the first time a Lancer landed in South Korea in 20 years, according to the US Pacific Command's website.

In an article carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, the KPA said the provocation is testing the North's tolerance, and it has pushed the situation on the peninsula to the "uncontrollable and irreversible phase of outbreak of nuclear war."

The US earlier sent two of its B-1Bs in a flyover on Sept. 13 in tit-for-tat actions against the North's fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9. At the time, the two B-1Bs returned to Guam without landing at the US air base.

The supersonic four-engine bomber, capable of reaching the peninsula from Guam in just two hours, is one of the US military's three major multi-role, long-range bombers along with the B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit.

There is the possibility that the US will send B-52s and B-2s to Korea as well.

In the past decade, Pyongyang has continued such provocative acts as nuclear tests and long-range rocket launches despite sanctions and condemnation from the international community.

On Jan. 10, four days after the North's fourth nuclear test, the US flew a B-52 bomber over South Korea. The B-52 can carry nuclear missiles and "bunker buster" bombs that are capable of destroying the North's underground facilities.

"We strongly recommend the North choose to improve inter-Korean ties in win-win strategy instead of taking the path to self-destruction through ceaseless provocations," Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told reporters Friday. (Yonhap)