Seoul's report to UN 'a provocation'

North Korea has threatened to retaliate against South Korea for taking it to the UN Security Council over the sinking of a warship, calling the action an "intolerable provocation".

On Friday, South Korea officially asked the Security Council to punish North Korea, accusing it of blowing apart one of its warships with a torpedo, killing 46 sailors. It was the first time Seoul has taken Pyongyang to the Security Council for an inter-Korean provocation, despite a history of being attacked by the North.

Yesterday North Korea – which denies involvement in the sinking – issued a statement saying the South's action will intensify military tension and could trigger a war. "That is yet another intolerable provocation to us," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification said.

The statement was Pyongyang's first response to Seoul's request for UN action over the sinking on 26 March.