THE UN Security Council will meet later today on the soaring tensions on the Korean peninsula, as the North warns of “disaster” if South Korea goes ahead with a live-fire artillery exercise.
Russia, a permanent council member, requested an emergency meeting which, according to US sources, might have been held as soon as Saturday afternoon .
But some major powers wanted to consult before the 15 council members meet, UN diplomatic sources said.
North Korea predicted “disaster” if South Korea held a live-fire artillery exercise on a border island bombarded by the communist state last month.
The North has threatened an even deadlier attack on the South if the one-day drill scheduled for between December 18 and 21 is staged on Yeonpyeong island near the disputed Yellow Sea border.
The North said the upcoming exercise “would make it impossible to prevent the situation on the Korean peninsula from exploding and escape its ensuing disaster.”
Unpredictable Pyongyang disputes the Yellow Sea border drawn by United Nations forces after the 1950-53 war. It claims the waters around Yeonpyeong and other South Korean frontline islands as its own maritime territory.
Russia and China have urged the South to cancel its plan.
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