(2nd LD) Tension rises over N. Korea`s renewed sea border claim

(ATTN: UPDATES paras 1-4, analyst's view in last five paras; CORRECTS attribution to
spokesman in 3rd para; ADDS expert's comments at bottom)
By Kim Hyun & Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- Military tension escalated sharply along the
inter-Korean border on Saturday as North Korea vowed to take an "all-out
confrontational posture" against South Korea, just hours after it said it would
hold onto its nuclear arms.
South Korea put its military on heightened alert, warning that armed clashes
might take place in disputed waters in the Yellow Sea.
Two naval skirmishes there in 1999 and 2002 left scores of soldiers killed or
wounded on both sides.
"Now that traitor (South Korean President) Lee Myung-bak and his group opted for
confrontation," said a spokesman for the chief of the General Staff of the
North's Korean People's Army, "our revolutionary armed forces are compelled to
take an all-out confrontational posture to shatter them."
Wearing a military uniform, the unnamed spokesman read the acerbic message in a
program aired by Pyongyang's official Korean Central Broadcasting Station. The
statement was also released in English by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
It was the first message from the North Korean army's General Staff in 10 years,
and was far more strongly-worded than the North's usual tirades against the
South.
Just hours before, North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Pyongyang may
not give up its nuclear weapons even if ties with Washington are normalized.
Pyongyang will terminate its atomic program only if there is no possibility the
U.S. will launch a nuclear attack against North Korea, he said. The message comes
three days before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, who said
during his campaign he would be willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il to end the nuclear dispute.
The North's military spokesman accused South Korean naval vessels of routinely
intruding upon its maritime territory in the Yellow Sea. Seoul officials denied
that claim.
"There was no such occasion," said Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for Seoul's
Unification Ministry handling inter-Korean affairs.
The inter-Korean western sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), was
unilaterally drawn by U.S.-led U.N. forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea disputes the NLL and insists it should be drawn further south.
"There will exist in the West Sea of Korea only the extension of the Military
Demarcation Line designated by the DPRK till the day of national reunification,
not the illegal 'Northern Limit Line,'" he said. DPRK is the acronym for the
North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The South Korean military responded swiftly to the statement. The Joint Chiefs of
Staff (JCS) issued an order to intensify its guard against North Korea to the
Army, the Navy and the Air Force as of 6 p.m. and asked the South Korea-U.S.
Combined Forces Command to increase reconnaissance activity using U-2 spy planes,
military officials said.
The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae held an emergency meeting and briefed Lee
on the North's statement, according to officials.
Pyongyang was widely expected to refrain from provocative behavior ahead of
Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration to ensure smooth nuclear negotiations with the new
U.S. administration.
Inter-Korean relations continued to be frosty into the New Year. North Korea
suspended inter-Korean dialogue last year in retaliation against President Lee's
hardline stance. Seoul halted its customary rice and fertilizer aid to the North.

Cheong Seong-chang, senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, an
independent think tank in Seoul, said the acerbic statement is less about a
military threat than about its brinkmanship to steer South Korea's hardline
stance toward engagement.
"North Korea is trying to increase its pressure on the South to change its
position," Cheong said.
Cheong also said he sees signs of a possible power shift in North Korea. The
North's similarly military flexed its muscles to consolidate the regime when the
current leader was designated by his father, Kim Il-sung, as his successor in
1974, he noted.
"Without evidence we cannot say for sure, but there may be a possibility that
North Korea is raising tensions with South Korea as a message to its people
before a succession," Cheong said.
Multiple intelligence sources told Yonhap earlier this week that current North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il has named his third and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as
his successor. The decision was likely driven by his poor health condition after
suffering a stroke last August, the sources said. Kim turns 67 next month.
samkim@yna.co.kr
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)