South Korea defended Tuesday its "sufficient" response to a North Korean live-fire drill that triggered the exchange of hundreds of artillery shells across the two rivals' disputed maritime border.

The North fired 500 shells during the three-hour drill on Monday, about 100 of which fell into South Korean waters.

Government-level talks between Japan and North Korea ended Monday in Beijing on a positive note, with Pyongyang apparently prepared to discuss the Japanese citizens kidnapped by its spies decades ago.

At their first formal meeting in 16 months, diplomats from the two countries spoke on a range of issues over two days, including North Korea's nuclear weapons program, officials said.

The two Koreas traded hundreds of rounds of live artillery fire across their disputed maritime border Monday, forcing South Korean islanders to take shelter a day after the North drove up tensions by threatening a new nuclear test.

The exchange, triggered by a three-hour North Korean live-fire exercise that dropped shells into South Korean waters, was limited to untargeted shelling into the sea, military officials said.

North Korea vowed not to rule out a "new form" of nuclear test Sunday after the U.N. Security Council condemned its latest ballistic missile launch amid simmering tensions over Seoul's joint military drills with Washington.

Pyongyang has carried out a series of rocket and short-range missile launches in recent weeks which have prompted stern reactions from South Korea and the United States.

North Korea said Saturday its relations with South Korea had been driven into a "catastrophic" phase again, warning the South's scattering of anti-Pyongyang leaflets could spark a war.

The statement came hours after Pyongyang's foreign ministry said the North would bolster its "war deterrent", accusing the United States of deliberately escalating tension through ongoing joint military drills with the South.

The U.N.'s top rights body Friday called on the Security Council to act against officials responsible for a litany of crimes against humanity in North Korea.

The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a resolution condemning the "ongoing systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" in the isolated Asian nation.

The U.N.'s top rights body Friday called on the Security Council to act against officials responsible for a litany of crimes against humanity in North Korea.

The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a resolution condemning the "ongoing systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" in the isolated Asian nation.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile tests and agreed to quickly consult on an appropriate response, its rotating president said.

"Security Council members condemn this launch as a violation of Security Council resolutions," Luxembourg's ambassador Sylvie Lucas told reporters after a closed-door debate of less than an hour.

A South Korean naval ship fired warning shots Thursday and seized a North Korean fishing boat intruding across the disputed Yellow Sea border, military officials said.

The vessel sailed a nautical mile south of the sea boundary at 5:26 pm (0826 GMT), prompting a South Korean patrol ship to take action, the South's defense ministry said.

The U.N. Security Council will hold consultations Thursday over North Korea's recent ballistic missile tests, the council presidency said Thursday.

The closed door meeting has been requested by the United States, diplomats said.