North puts artillery on live-fire alert

Artillery units along the west coast of North Korea have been put on alert ahead of a planned live-fire drill by the South, a government source in Pyongyang told Yonhap news agency yesterday. The move raised tensions further on the Korean peninsula hours before the UN Security Council was due to meet in emergency session to try to cool tensions between the rival Koreas.

Bad weather has delayed the South's planned firing drill, but there is growing international concern the dispute could spiral out control as both sides have threatened to use military force.