A ferry carrying 459 people, mostly high school students, has sunk off South Korea, leaving at least three people dead and nearly 300 missing.

North Korea warned foreign embassies in Pyongyang that it was unable to guarantee their safety after Apr 10 and they should consider evacuating their missions amid soaring nuclear tensions.

A South Korean coastguard was killed and another injured today when they were stabbed by a Chinese captain whose boat was stopped for suspected illegal fishing.

AN AMERICAN citizen released after six months’ detention in North Korea has arrived in Seoul after he left the communist state with a US delegation, South Korean news media said.

The sound of new artillery fire from North Korea just hours after the US and South Korea launched a round of war games in Korean waters sent residents and journalists on a front-line island scrambling for cover today.

NORTH KOREA staged an artillery drill yesterday within earshot of a South Korean island shelled earlier this week, and warned that an upcoming US-South Korean naval exercise heightens the risk of war.

South Korea’s president pledged today to boost security around islands near the site of a North Korean artillery attack as the North warned of more retaliation for any “reckless military provocations”.

Former US President Jimmy Carter departed on his mission to North Korea that US officials said is aimed at bringing home an imprisoned American.

North Korea said today it would attack South Korean loudspeakers and other propaganda facilities along its border, warning it could even turn Seoul into a “sea of flame”.

The deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea overshadowed local elections today – seen as a gauge of public sentiment toward the pro-American president’s handling of the security crisis.

The prime minister of China, North Korea’s main ally, offered condolences today to South Korea for the sinking of a warship blamed on Pyongyang after promising his country – under pressure to punish the North – would not defend any country guilty of the attack.

NORTH Korea threatened yesterday to shut a border crossing and open fire on loudspeakers if South Korea makes good on its vow to blare out propaganda across the frontier in revenge for the sinking of a warship.

Military divers plunged into the waters near South Korea’s tense maritime border with North Korea to search for 46 missing marines from a naval ship that sank today, but were hampered by fierce waves and high winds, officials said.

Yonhap news agency said that the militaries of North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire along their disputed western sea border.

North Korea reportedly test-launched five short-range missiles in what analysts said was an attempt to improve its bargaining position before possible talks with the US.

South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak will meet a delegation of visiting North Korean officials tomorrow, the latest sign that ties between the divided countries are warming.

SOUTH Korean intelligence officials believe North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces committed cyber attacks that paralysed major South Korean and US government websites, aides to two lawmakers said yesterday.

North Korea was today blamed for sophisticated cyber attacks that paralysed major US government websites.

NORTH KOREA’S communist regime has warned of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula while vowing to step up its atomic bomb-making programme in defiance of new UN sanctions.

The US said today North Korea may be planning more long-range missile launches as the communist nation threatened to retaliate against punitive United Nations sanctions.

North Korea test-fired another short-range missile off its east coast today.

North Korea today vowed to take further “self-defence” measures if provoked by the UN Security Council, which is discussing how to punish the regime for its nuclear test.

US spy satellites have detected signs that North Korea has restarted its nuclear plant, it was reported today.

NORTH KOREA reportedly tested two more short-range missiles yesterday, a day after detonating a nuclear bomb underground, pushing the regime further into a confrontation with world powers despite the threat of UN action.

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama assailed North Korea for new missile tests, saying the world must “stand up to” Pyongyang and demand that it honour a promise to abandon it nuclear ambitions.

NORTH KOREA claimed it carried out a powerful underground nuclear test yesterday – much larger than one conducted in 2006 – a major provocation in the escalating international standoff over its rogue nuclear and missile programmes.

North Korea fired a rocket over Japan on today, defying Washington, Tokyo and others who suspect the launch was cover for a test of its long-range missile technology.

South Korean officials believe North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has recovered enough from a stroke to brush his own teeth but that sporadic spasms forced him to skip his country’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

SOUTH KOREA yesterday said that North Korea has started restoring its nuclear facilities after the communist country suspended operations last month to disable them.

North Korea has test-fired a barrage of short-range missiles in what appears to be a response to the new South Korean government’s tougher stance on Pyongyang.

North Korea may be preparing to shut down its main nuclear reactor, news reports said today.

Talks on disarming North Korea’s nuclear programme broke down in Beijing today with the country’s chief nuclear envoy leaving after a dispute over money frozen in a Macau bank.

A stalled round of talks on disarming North Korea’s nuclear programme will be extended even though a dispute over when around €19m of Pyongyang’s funds will be released from a Macau bank is not settled, a Japanese diplomat said today.

North Korea’s No. 2 leader said today any progress at revived talks on the communist nation’s nuclear program will depend on the United States, according to a news report, an indication that any breakthrough at the negotiations could be difficult.

South Korea’s government has detected abnormal radiation in the country after North Korea’s nuclear test earlier this month, Yonhap news agency reported today.

NORTH KOREA is not planning a second nuclear test and is willing to return to six-party talks under certain conditions but warned that it would take action if it feels pressured, China’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice today arrived in South Korea to press Seoul to support sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear test that rattled the world.

South Korea’s military was reportedly preparing for nuclear conflict today as rival North Korea warned that an international push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang over its atomic weapons test would be an act of war.

A North Korean official has warned that the communist nation could fire a nuclear-tipped missile unless the US acts to resolve its stand-off with Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported today.

NEIGHBOURING countries yesterday cautioned North Korea against carrying out a planned nuclear test, while a top South Korean security official said there was no sign a test was imminent.

Neighbouring countries today cautioned North Korea against carrying out a planned nuclear test, while a top South Korean security official said there was no sign a test was imminent.

South Korea is researching and developing cruise-missile technology, the defence minister said in a statement today.

South Korea’s unification minister today urged the US to engage in direct talks with North Korea over a potential long-range missile launch.