S. Korea still on alert over possible N.K. artillery firings

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military is keeping tabs on the
possibility of additional artillery shell firings by North Korea near an
inter-Korea sea border, a military official said Saturday.

Since Wednesday, North Korea has fired some 350 artillery shells into the
"no-sail" zones north of the Yellow Sea's Northern Limit Line (NLL), de facto
maritime border. The NLL was drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the
Korean War and the communist North has refused to honor it.
North Korea on Monday declared two maritime areas near the NLL in the Yellow Sea
as "no-sail" zones until March 29, the deadline of the country's "regular"
military drills. Friday marked the end of a five-day "naval firing" period
announced unilaterally by the North.
"We are maintaining readiness for countermeasures as there could possibly be
additional firing of artillery," a military official, requesting anonymity, said.
The South Korean military has detected several instances of "faint gunfire sound"
in the North's region north of Yeonpyeong Island, according to the official.
Yeonpyeong Island is located about 80 kilometers west of the northernmost end of
South Korea's mainland and 12km from the North.
Due to its proximity to North Korea and waters rich in fish, the island has been
a point of high tension between the divided countries. Naval skirmishes occurred
in nearby waters in 1999, 2002 and last year.
"There doesn't appear to be any artillery firing near islands of Baengnyeong and
Daecheong at the moment ... It appears that the North's military is conducting
military drills either on its land or in coastal waters," the official said.
The South's military was reportedly strengthening monitoring of activities near
missile bases in the North over possibilities that the North could fire
short-range missiles.
Another military official, also requesting to be unnamed, said that the South
Korean military was keeping close tabs on the "possibility of the North firing
surface-to air missiles towards international waters in the west."
Last October, North Korea fired short-range missiles off its east coast as the
latest in a series of weapons tests that included the May detonation of its
second nuclear device. The communist state then pulled out of the six-party
denuclearization talks after the United Nations imposed sanctions for its earlier
missile tests.
Analysts here say the latest provocative moves by Pyongyang also indicate its
attempt to increase its leverage as it prepares to return to the
denuclearization-for-aid six party talks that include South Korea, the United
States, Japan, Russia and China.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)

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