South Korea

The men, who were suspected of illegal fishing, were caught in the blaze after the coastguard officers threw a "flashbang" or stun grenade into part of their boat where they were hiding.

It is believed they died of smoke inhalation, an official said, and an autopsy has been ordered.

Fourteen other fishermen survived and are being questioned by authorities.

The incident began when a coastguard vessel identified the fishing boat in South Korean waters, and ordered it to stop for inspection.

Asked in parliament Wednesday if there was a special forces unit already assembled that could eliminate North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, Han Min-koo said: "Yes, we do have such a plan. "

"South Korea has a general idea and plan to use precision missile capabilities to target the enemy's facilities in major areas as well as eliminating the enemy's leadership," he added.

It has long been suspected that such a plan was in place but the minister's candid answer surprised some.

Though the official said the drills are not aimed particularly at North Korea, the announcement comes less than two weeks after North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear warhead -- its second nuclear test this year and fifth one ever.

The US and South Korea will also simulate what to do in the event of a sudden missile attack.

A military source told the Yonhap news agency every part of Pyongyang "will be completely destroyed by ballistic missiles and high-explosives shells".

Yonhap has close ties to South Korea's government and is publicly funded.

On Friday North Korea carried out what it said was its fifth, and largest, nuclear test.

The international community is considering its response.

The US says it is considering its own sanctions, in addition to any imposed by the UN Security Council, Japan and South Korea.

Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon Hee held a press conference early on Wednesday to address media reports of a public execution of a senior-level North Korean official.

Two other officials, Kim Yong Chol, the head of North Korea's United Front Department (UFD), and a senior member of North Korea's propaganda department, received "revolutionary measures," commonly referred to as re-education, according to the spokesman.

No other details are immediately available.

In a statement, Deputy National Defense Minister Yoo Jeh Seung said the location for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery would "maximize the military effectiveness of the THAAD battery while ensuring the safety of the local population."

Washington and Seoul announced the battery's deployment last week, in a move that outraged North Korea, which has threatened to "physically act" against the THAAD and make the allies "suffer from the nightmare extreme uneasiness and terror."

The harsh rhetoric by North Korea's People's Army (KPA) is the communist state's first comment on Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) since the U.S. and South Korea announced Friday they are in the final stages of negotiation about where to deploy the missile system.

THAAD can shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at incredible speed and altitude, and has been used by the U.S. for years to protect its military units.

Both are believed to be Musudan intermediate-range missiles, fired from the North Korean port city of Wonsan, said Commander Dave Benham, spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command.

North Korea has made at least four previous attempts this year to test this type of missile.

Both missiles were tracked over the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, "where initial indications are they fell," Benham said. Benham said the missile launches did not pose a threat to North America.

During two rounds of marathon talks that began Saturday at the border village of Panmunjom, the Koreas agreed on a set of steps aimed at easing tension, with Pyongyang agreeing to lift a "quasi-state of war" that it had declared last week, according to South Korea's presidential office and North Korea's state media.

The countries also agreed to resume in September reunions of families separated by the war and to hold further talks soon in either Seoul or Pyongyang, both sides said.

The countries made the announcement after three days of intense talks aimed at pulling the rivals back from the brink of war.

During the talks at the border village of Panmunjom, North Korea also agreed to lift a "quasi-state of war" that it had declared last week, chief South Korean negotiator and presidential security adviser Kim Kwan-jin told a televised briefing.