ID :
154490
Thu, 12/23/2010 - 07:29
Auther :

U.S. warns North Korea of responding militarily to S. Korea's military drills

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- The United States Wednesday urged North Korea to
remain calm as South Korea prepares for another major firing drill near their
highly fortified border.
"I think exercises that have been announced well in advance, that are
transparent, that are defensive in nature should in no way engender a response
from the North Koreans," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "Everybody, I
think, in the world is aware that they're happening. And they are exercises that
are defensive in nature. The United States is obviously supportive of the
Republic of Korea."
South Korea is poised to conduct a major artillery drill in the Pocheon range
near the western side of the Demilitarized Zone diving the Koreas for the past
decades.
The drill is part of a series of naval, sea and ground exercises near the border
with North Korea since North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island late last month,
killing four people in the first attack on South Korean soil to target civilians
since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The shelling took place as South Korea conducted a live-fire drill in waters near
the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border that the North has
repeatedly challenged in recent years. The line was drawn unilaterally by the
U.N. Command in 1953.
The South Korean military is still on high alert amid lingering concerns that
North Korea might retaliate for South Korea's artillery exercise Monday in waters
off Yeonpyeong. Pyongyang so far has backed down from its initial threats to
retaliate.
The Lee Myung-bak administration has vowed to use air power as well as artillery
and missiles to counter any further provocations from the North. The
administration was widely criticized for its weak response to the shelling of
Yeonpyeong and the torpedoeing in March of a South Korean warship, which killed
46 sailors.
Since last week, the North has proposed a series of rapprochement measures to New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, invited to Pyongyang as a private citizen to ease
rising tensions. Seoul and Washington officials have dismissed them as part of
the North's traditional brinkmanship.
North Korea agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to
monitor its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, and negotiate the
sale of 12,000 spent nuclear fuel rods, according to Richardson.
The troubleshooter also said North Korea agreed to set up a military commission
consisting of representatives from the two Koreas and the U.S. and an
inter-Korean military hotline to prevent conflicts in the disputed western sea
border, the scene of several bloody skirmishes in recent years.
North Korea expelled IAEA monitors early last year in the wake of U.N. Security
Council sanctions for a rocket launch seen as a long-range missile test. Months
later, Pyongyang detonated its second nuclear device after one in 2006, drawing
harsher U.N. sanctions.
The North's proposal comes amid speculation that Pyongyang might be aiming to
negotiate after creating a series of crises.
North Korea last month revealed a uranium enrichment plant that it claims is
producing fuel for power generation. However, it could also produce highly
enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
The return of the U.N. monitors is one of preconditions Seoul and Washington had
put forth for the resumption of the six-party talks on ending the North's nuclear
weapons programs.
South Korea and the U.S. also want Pyongyang to apologize for shelling Yeonpyeong
and sinking the warship Cheonan. China and Russia want the nuclear talks to
reopen as soon as possible unconditionally.
China, a veto power on the Security Council, blocked efforts by the U.S. and its
allies to denounce Pyongyang at a council meeting in New York Sunday.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)

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