South Korea will seek cooperation from China and Russia in handling North Korea in the wake of the North's deadly artillery attack on a border island, Seoul's foreign minister said Thursday.

North Korea on Thursday threatened new attacks against the South and rejected a proposal by the UN Command to hold talks, media reports said.

South Korea is suspending shipments of flood aid to North Korea as of today following the North's deadly shelling of a border island, Seoul's unification ministry said.

South Korea's defence ministry on Tuesday ruled out the redeployment of US nuclear weapons on its soil as a deterrent to North Korea, a day after its minister had raised the prospect.

North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing one person and triggering an exchange of fire as southern armed forces went on their highest state of alert.

The US special envoy for North Korea on Monday said that pyongyang's claim of a secret new uranium enrichment facility is provocative and disappointing but not a crisis or a surprise.

An American nuclear scientist says North Korea has secretly and quickly built a new facility to enrich uranium. The report raises fears that the north is ramping up its nuclear programme.

North Korea on Saturday snubbed a UN resolution condemning its human rights conditions, calling it a US-led conspiracy to topple the communist regime through pressure.

Britain on Thursday extended its support to India in its campaign for becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a move that comes close on the heels of a US backing.

Russia said on Friday it hopes the outcome of the US mid-term elections will not affect ties between Moscow and Washington.