UPDATE: 1 S. Korean soldier killed as N. Korea fires
artillery near western border
Seoul (The Korea Herald/ANN) - North Korea fired dozens of
coastal artillery shells, some of which fell on the South's
Yeonpyaong Island near the tense western inter-Korean border, the
Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.
"The North fired dozens of artillery rounds from its Gaemeori
western coastal artillery base at 14:34 p.m. In response to the
military provocations, we fired back dozens of rounds with K9
self-propelled howitzers," JCS spokesman Col. Lee Bung-woo told
reporters.
In the artillery firing, one soldier was killed and four marine
solider were seriously injured. The military was trying to evacuate
civilians on the island near the border. Several civilians were
reported to have suffered injuries.
The firing came as the South was carrying out a live-fire
exercise in waters off the Bangnyeong Island and the Yeonpyeong
Island as part of the annual nine-day Hoguk Exercise, aimed at
enhancing inter-operability and defense capabilities against North
Korea.
Regarding the Hoguk Exercise, the North sent a faxed message to
the South in the morning, saying it would not "just sit back" while
the South is carrying out the live-fire exercise, according to JCS
officials.
"Our military has begun operating the crisis management system
and strengthened a readiness posture in all military branches. We
are fully and firmly prepared to respond to additional North Korean
provocations," Lee said.
The JSC called on the North to immediately stop acts that
ratchet up military tension on the peninsula and inter-Korean
confrontations. "We will strongly respond to any further
provocations from the North," the spokesman said.
The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae said it was looking
into whether the North fired the artillery in reaction to the South
Korean navy's 'Hoguk Exercise' near the island.
"North Korea wired a complaint this morning asking whether (the
exercise) was an attack against the North," President Lee
Myung-bak's spokesperson Kim Hee-jung said during a press
briefing.
Lee held emergency meetings of his top aides and security
related ministers in the afternoon.
The volley of artillery came as tensions have run high between
the two Koreas following the March 26 sinking of the corvette
Cheonan, which Seoul holds Pyongyang responsible for.
The Seoul-led multinational investigation team concluded in May
that a North Korean midget submarine torpedoed the 1,200-ton
corvette, killing 46 sailors. Pyongyang has persistently denied its
involvement.
In August, the North fired some 130 coastal artillery shells
into waters near the western inter-Korean maritime border. Some 10
coastal artillery shells landed in waters about 1-2 kilometers
south of the Northern Limit Line off Bangnyeong Island.
The volley of the artillery fire came after the South Korean
military finished its five-day maritime maneuvers in the West Sea,
which were designed to enhance its defense capabilities against
North Korean provocations.
The artillery firing came as a surprise as North Korea experts
here largely anticipated that the communist state would seek to
improve ties with its southern neighbor as it has been striving to
solidify its second hereditary power succession.
The North has recently made it public that its leader Kim
Jong-il's youngest son Jung-un is being groomed to succeed his
ailing father. Jung-un has recently been made a four-star general
and appointed as vice chairman of the ruling Worker's Party's
Central Military Commission.
-- Yahoo! News
