South and North Korean soldiers stand guard at the Panmunjom truce village in the demilitarised zone.
Last Update: Monday, October 9, 2006. 0:07am (AEST)

North Korea warns of catastrophe after border incident

North Korea warned of catastrophic consequences if South Korea's military engaged in "unforgivable military provocation" like the weekend skirmish at a heavily fortified border between the two Koreas.

South Korean troops fired warning shots on Saturday after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed over the border, adding to mounting tension after Pyongyang said on Wednesday it planned to conduct a nuclear test.

"This was an undisguised challenge against us and an unforgivable military provocation," the North's KCNA news agency said in a commentary.

"It was only the high patience and self control of our Korean People's Army soldiers that the incident did not spread to an armed clash on both sides," it said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said its soldiers fired warning shots at five North Korean soldiers who had climbed over the military demarcation line despite several verbal warnings over loudspeakers.

The North Korean soldiers retreated without returning fire, the office of the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff had said.

KCNA said North Korean soldiers were executing "normal" military duties on its side of the border when South Korean guards fired 60 machine gun shots at them.

"The South's military authorities must not run wildly but instead deliberate on what catastrophic consequences will result from provocative acts at the frontlines where the militaries of both sides stand tensely against one another," KCNA said.

The skirmish followed demands by the U.N. Security Council for the reclusive North not to carry out a nuclear test and warning of unspecified consequences if it did.

North Korea said last week it had no choice but to conduct the nuclear test in the face of what it said was a US threat of nuclear war and economic sanctions.

- Reuters