They don't know what they're getting themselves into.North Korea has threatened action against the South after it joined a US-led initiative to intercept ships suspected of trafficking weapons of mass destruction.
North Korean soldiers, officials and people celebrate the nuclear test
The communist North's military said it will respond with "immediate, strong military measures" if South Korea stops and searches any of its vessels.
In a statement it said it no longer considers itself bound by the armistice that ended the Korean War, following the South's participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).
South Korea announced its involvement in the programme on Tuesday, one day after the North conducted a nuclear test.
In the past 48 hours Pyongyang has launched five short range missiles in an act of defiance after the UN Security Council condemned its detonation of an underground nuclear device on Monday.
The fifth was fired across the Sea of Japan as Korean leader Kim Jong Il continued to ignore protests from the UN, the US and its regional neighbours.
N Korean leader Kim Jong Il
A military spokesman quoted by official media said the North could no longer guarantee the safety of shipping off its west coast - suggesting a missile could also be fired in that direction.
A South Korean newspaper reported US spy satellites have detected signs that North Korea has re-started its nuclear plant at Yongbyon.
The newspaper - quoting intelligence sources - said the satellites detected steam rising from the reprocessing facility at the nuclear plant.
North Korea had promised it would restart the reprocessing of spent fuel rods in protest at UN criticism of the launch of a long range ballistic missile in April.
Missiles at the Korean War Museum
In New York members of the Security Council have gone into closed meetings in an attempt to deliver a unanimous response to North Korea's continued breach of previous UN resolutions.
Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the Council - the US, Britain, Russia, France and China - were joined by ambassadors from the two countries most affected by the nuclear test, South Korea and Japan.
They met for an hour trying to agree on a new resolution but US Ambassador Susan Rice, speaking on behalf of the group, warned it would be a long process.
China remains one of North Korea's few allies but is clearly losing patience with its neighbour.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman repeated that Beijing is "resolutely opposed" the nuclear test and urged Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.






North Korean soldiers, officials and people celebrate the nuclear test
N Korean leader Kim Jong Il
Missiles at the Korean War Museum
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