N. Korea voids pacts with South as sanctions toughened

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea announced on Friday it was voiding non-aggression pacts with South Korea and severing a hotline with Seoul, hours after the UN Security Council adopted tough new sanctions on Pyongyang.

The announcement ramped up tensions on the Korean peninsula that have surged since the North staged a third nuclear test last month. On Thursday, the country threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States.

Pyongyang is no stranger to bellicose rhetoric, but the tone has reached a frenzied pitch in recent days, fuelling concerns that it might trigger a border incident, with both North and South planning major military exercises next week.

North Korea "abrogates all agreements on non-aggression reached between the North and the South", the state-run Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) said in a statement.