A senior US envoy held talks in Seoul today to coordinate a UN response to the sinking of a South Korean navy ship that investigators said was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine.
Pyongyang has threatened to take military action against the South if the UN Security Council punishes it for what it says is a fabricated accusation by Seoul that it attacked and sank the corvette Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors.
Assistant US secretary of state Kurt Campbell met with South Korea's foreign minister Yu Myung-hwan and senior officials to coordinate a response by the Security Council, which has expressed grave concern about the incident.
South Korea is hoping the Security Council will rebuke the North in a resolution imposing tough sanctions but is aware that Pyongyang's major ally, China, wields veto power and would be reluctant to join any action or statement of condemnation.
Analysts say neither Korea is ready to go to war, but see a possibility of more skirmishes in disputed waters off the west coast or along their heavily armed land border.
Pyongyang has denied involvement in the Cheonan's sinking, saying accusations against it were a US-led conspiracy aimed at giving South Korean president Lee Myung-bak a political boost.
Mr Lee has demanded an apology from the North. The South has also cut off all trade and most humanitarian aid to its destitute neighbour, and said any aggression by the North's 1.2 million-strong army - one of the world's largest - would be met with swift retaliation.
A team of international investigators, led by South Korea's military, said in May that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the ship, presenting evidence that included parts of the weapon recovered from the site of the incident.
Reuters