N. Korea vows to continue artillery drills along Yellow Sea border

SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea vowed to continue artillery drills along
the Yellow Sea border after sharply raising tension by firing dozens of shells
there Wednesday, reiterating that the de-facto inter-Korean border should be
redrawn.
The General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) confirmed its artillery
firing, saying it was part of an "annual" drill, after it was reported by the
South Korean military earlier in the day. South Korea had responded by firing
warning shots, and no casualties or damage occurred.
"No one can argue about the premeditated exercises staged by KPA units in waters
of the north side," the KPA General Staff said in a statement carried by the
North's Korean Central News Agency.
"Such firing drill by the units of the KPA will go on in the same waters in the
future, too."
The North's military renewed its protests against the current western maritime
border, which was unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command in
the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea has never acknowledged the
U.N.-drawn line and has drawn a new line on its own south of the current border.
A total of three skirmishes occurred in the volatile region in 1999, 2002 and
last year.
"There is only the extension of the Military Demarcation Line recognized by the
DPRK (North Korea) in the waters off the front on the West Coast of Korea," the
North's military said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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