North Korea has accused two South Korean warships of sailing into its territorial waters on Wednesday.

South Korea denied the charge, saying that the two patrol boats - one of which was carrying the Defence Minister, Kim Dong-shin - remained in South Korean territorial waters.

	Northern Limit Line Declared by UN in 1953 Not officially recognised by North Regularly breached by North's navy See also: Unresolved conflict

A statement carried by the North Korean news agency KCNA said that the South has made a "premeditated manoeuvre of provocation" in the Yellow Sea. North Korea reported a similar incident on Sunday.

The accusation follows a naval clash between the two sides last month in which four South Korean sailors and an unknown number of North Koreans were killed.

The two Koreas dispute the division of the seas around their coast, and tensions between the two have been high since the 29 June naval battle - their worst maritime clash in three years.

New war of words

North Korea accused the South on Wednesday of trying to spark a new skirmish:

"This... is a premeditated provocation to ignite a new armed clash by further aggravating the situation in these waters," the North Korean statement said, describing the atmosphere as "extremely tense".

But the South's navy strongly denied the charge, saying that the patrol boats were heading towards a naval base on the southern side of the maritime border, the Northern Limit Line, to make a routine check-up.

The base is on Yeonpyeong island, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of South Korea's northern west coast, in the area where last month's battle took place.

The naval skirmish, and verbal scuffles that have followed it, have brought South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's policy of engaging with the North under intense scrutiny.