NORTH KOREA: South Korea's navy fired warning shots yesterday after North Korean fishing boats crossed the border between the rival nations and the US and Russia called on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme.
The fresh tension at sea coincided with a newspaper report that the two Koreas could join the US, Japan and China at a multilateral meeting in Kuala Lumpur later this month to discuss the nuclear crisis.
Pyongyang insisted, however, that any such multilateral talks could only come after bilateral talks with Washington.
There were no reports of any injuries or damage in the firing after the intrusion by eight North Korean vessels across the maritime border in the Yellow Sea, rich crab fishing grounds where deadly naval gun battles broke out last June and in 1999.
"North Korean ships ignored our warning broadcasts and kept working, without retreating," said Mr Kim Sung-wook, spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs-of-Staff (JCS).
"We urge North Korea to take responsible actions," he said, adding that Seoul would hold North Korea responsible for any incidents arising from crossing the maritime border.
Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula for more than seven months, since the US said the communist North had revealed it was pursuing a secret nuclear arms programme.
In Japan, government sources quoted by the Sankei Shimbun said five-country talks on North Korea's nuclear programme could take place in Malaysia as early as the end of June.
The newspaper said China had expressed its "understanding" of the talks and North Korea was being urged to take part, but no further details were given.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said China was "unaware" of the proposed talks.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi, is set to meet the South Korean President, Mr Roh Moo-hyun, in Tokyo next Saturday.
China, North Korea and the United States held three-way talks in Beijing in April to try to resolve the confrontation over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
Tokyo and Seoul, which had hoped to take part, were left out because of Pyongyang's opposition.
North Korea, however, appeared to soften its stance slightly last week when it said in a statement quoted by Japan's Kyodo news agency that it would agree to US demands for multilateral talks that included South Korea and Japan if Pyongyang and Washington held bilateral talks first.
The North's official KCNA news agency repeated that formula in a commentary on Saturday.