S. Korean troops keep maximum vigil on N. Korea ahead of Obama inauguration By Sam Kim

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea does not rule out the possibility of North Korean provocation ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, and is keeping "maximum" tabs on its communist neighbor, defense officials said Monday.

North Korea released a series of angry statements over the weekend, professing
its intent to retain its nuclear capability even after the normalization of ties
with the United States and threatening to go on an "all-out confrontational
posture" against South Korea to enforce its claim over a disputed western sea
border.
Analysts say the statements could be seen as Pyongyang's demand for greater
attention from the incoming U.S. administration, noting they came amid reports
that North Korea has informed a prominent U.S. scholar of its success in
weaponizing plutonium.
"If we analyze the background, it is reasonable to understand (North Korea's
moves) in connection to the U.S. presidential inauguration," Won Tae-jae, chief
spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said when asked whether the
military is taking extra caution because of the upcoming event in Washington.
"We're monitoring their moves by raising maximum watch," he said.
Another official who declined to be named said the Air Force has shortened the
take-off intervals of reconnaissance planes to keep track of North Korean troops,
while intelligence officials of South Korea and the United States are increasing
their communication.
"We're doing all we can do to monitor North Korean moves, and we will know it the
moment they move toward action," the official said.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against
North Korea, operating state-of-the-art intelligence equipment, including
satellites.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff has elevated its defense readiness along the
heavily armed frontier with North Korea, including the Northern Limit Line, a
disputed Yellow Sea border where bloody skirmishes occurred in 1999 and 2002.
The NLL was unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. forces at the end of the
1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty. North Korea
claims the de-facto maritime border should be drawn further south, and declared
Saturday it would "shatter" any opposition.
"There will exist in the West Sea of Korea only the extension of the Military
Demarcation Line designated by the DPRK,'" a uniformed spokesman for the North's
joint chiefs of staff said on national television. DPRK is the acronym for the
communist country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"North Korea talks much, but we talk less than our actions," Won said.
Obama will be sworn into office on Wednesday (Korea time). The 48-year-old, the
first African-American to become U.S. president, has stressed the importance of
direct dialogue to end North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
North Korea, which detonated its first atomic device in 2006, continues to defy
international calls to allow a more thorough verification of its declared nuclear
inventory. The six-nation disarmament talks, which include the two Koreas, China,
Japan, Russia and the United States, remain in a stalemate, and ties between
Pyongyang and Seoul have also reached one of their lowest points.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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