WE CANNOT GUARANTEE SAFETY. NORTH KOREA WARNS FOREIGNERS

North Korea issued its latest dispatch of ominous rhetoric Tuesday, telling foreigners in South Korea they should take steps to secure shelter or evacuation to protect themselves in the event of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

The unnerving message came as Japan set up missile defenses in Tokyo, and North Korean workers failed to turn up for work in the industrial complex jointly operated by North and South Korea.

In the statement published by state-run media Tuesday, the North's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee reiterated accusations that Washington and Seoul were seeking to provoke a war with Pyongyang.

"Once a war is ignited on the peninsula, it will be an all-out war," the committee said, adding that North Korea doesn't want foreigners in South Korea to

"fall victim" to a conflict.

It follows a warning from the North last week to diplomats in its capital city, Pyongyang, that if war were to break out, it would not be able to guarantee their safety.

But staff at the British Embassy in Seoul appeared unimpressed by the North's most recent attempt to rattle nerves in the region.

"We are not commenting on the specifics of every piece of rhetoric from North Korea," said Colin Gray, head of media affairs at the embassy. "Our travel advice remains unchanged. At this moment, we see no immediate threat to British citizens in South Korea."

Several Western countries said last week they had no plans to withdraw staff from Pyongyang after the North's warning to diplomats there.

And foreign visitors in Seoul didn't appear to be panicking Tuesday.

"I am concerned, but not enough not to make the trip," said Vicky Polashock, who was visiting from Atlanta.

She said that there was more tension than she'd noticed on previous visits to South Korea, but that the North's latest threat "doesn't heighten the danger any more than the last couple of weeks."