SEOUL, Jan 30: North Korea said on Friday it was ditching a non-aggression pact and all other peace agreements with South Korea, in an apparent attempt to use the threat of an armed clash to press Seoul to give up its “confrontational” stance.

The communist nation also said it would no longer respect a disputed sea border with the South, raising the prospect for an armed clash along the Yellow Sea boundary — the scene of deadly skirmishes between the two navies in 1999 and 2002.

South Korea said it regretted the North’s latest move and warned it wouldn’t tolerate any attempt to violate the border.

Analysts said Pyongyang’s threats could signal it was preparing for an armed confrontation, but only as a way of ratcheting up the pressure on Seoul to get the neighbour to soften its hard-line stance — and attracting President Barack Obama’s attention.

“This signals that North Korea will stage a provocation” — probably near the maritime border, said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University.

The isolated regime could then use the threat of an armed clash to pressure Seoul to change course with the North.—AP