The UN Security Council began an emergency meeting today in hopes of preventing the
escalating crisis on the Korean peninsula from spiraling out of control.
Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who called a news conference on Saturday about the spat between North and South Korea, said he hoped the 15 council members could agree on a unanimous statement that would send a "restraining signal" to both Seoul and Pyongyang.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a government source as saying that North Korea's military had raised an alert for artillery units based along its west coast ahead of a planned live-fire drill by the South.
Both the North and South have said they will use military means to defend what they say is their territory off the west coast. Recent Western attempts to get the Security Council to rebuke Pyongyang over a deadly artillery shelling incident last month and its nuclear program have been blocked by China.
Agencies
