N Korea threatens to break off dialogue with S Korea

Seoul: North Korea has threatened to suspend talks with South Korea in anger over Seoul's alleged contingency plan to deal with potential unrest in the communist country.

The National Defence Commission, the North's most powerful state organ headed by leader Kim Jong Il also warned the North will initiate a sacred "retaliatory battle" against South Korea over the plan, which the North claims is aimed at toppling its regime.

In Tokyo, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan on Saturday said that the lifting of sanctions could be discussed in the UN Security Council after the North makes progress toward denuclearization.