联合国秘书长潘基文敦促朝鲜半岛南北双方缓和紧张局势

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged North and South Korea to ease tensions on the peninsula.

Mr. Ban's comments came during a meeting Monday with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan in Seoul.  

Cross-border relations have worsened in recent months.  The North has threatened what it calls a "sacred war" against the South's conservative government for alleged insults to, and plots against, its government.

Pyongyang is also struggling with the devastation of floods that killed at least 169 people, left hundreds missing and washed away or inundated more than 65 thousand hectares of cropland.  Mr. Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said the United Nations was committed to continue its emergency aid to the North.

The world body and other international organizations are providing emergency items, such as tents.  But North Korean officials say they are not reaching people in some flooded areas because access to roads and railways has not been restored.