United Nations' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sounded the alarm on the Korea situation Tuesday, warning that the crisis there could become "uncontrollable," according to BBC News.
"If any small incident is caused by miscalculation or misjudgment, it may create an uncontrollable situation," Ban told reporters in Rome, said BBC.
He said he would discuss North Korea's recent provocations toward South Korea, Japan, and the United States with US President Barack Obama on Thursday, according to the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA.
Related: More bellicose rhetoric from Pyongyang as US tries to calm tensions
Ban's remarks come amid growing international concern over the standoff in the Koreas, with North Korea on Tuesday warning its citizens to leave the South.
"The situation on the Korean peninsula is heading for a thermo-nuclear war," according to a Tuesday missive from Pyongyang's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, said BBC. "In the event of war, we don't want foreigners living in South Korea to get hurt."
Communist North Korea defied international sanctions with a third nuclear test last month, leaving world powers apprehensive of a potential missile strike.
Both Japan and the US activated anti-missile defense operations in the region recently, said BBC.
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