Tension on Korean sea frontier

North and South Korea have deployed combat vessels close to their disputed sea frontier in the first reported military incident since leaders from both sides met in June.

North Korea's official news agency accused four South Korean warships of intruding into its territorial waters; it said this was a deliberate attempt to upset the reconciliation between the two sides of the divided peninsula.

But South Korea's military chiefs have denied this version of events.

They say that a North Korean patrol boat approached the demarcation line, causing South Korean ships to be mobilised, but neither side crossed that line. Both sides said that three similar incidents had happened earlier this month. The BBC Seoul correspondent says the incident underlines the fact that military tensions between the two sides remain high despite the political rapprochement.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service