ID :
45599
Sat, 02/14/2009 - 13:10
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/45599
The shortlink copeid
(LEAD) N. Korea says western sea border 'can no longer work'
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Friday the western sea border with South Korea "can no longer work" and warned of military clashes should Seoul intrude "even one inch" into its maritime territory.
The renewed warning issued by the North's party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, was
even more specific than previous threats.
The South Korean military kept a tense vigil along the border in the Yellow Sea,
along which two bloody naval skirmishes occurred over the past decade, leaving
scores of soldiers dead or wounded on both sides.
The western sea border is "thoroughly unfair and sheer robbery," the Rodong
Sinmun said in a commentary titled "Northern Limit Line that can no longer work."
The western sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), has been a powder
keg on the peninsula. It was unilaterally drawn by the U.N. Command after the
1950-1953 Korean War and has been consistently disavowed by North Korea.
The Workers' Party newspaper called the NLL a "ghost border" and accused Seoul's
Lee Myung-bak government of trying to incite a war by insisting on it.
"The fact that the Lee Myung-bak group continues to hold onto this ghost border
clearly testifies to its wicked plot to initiate military clashes," it said, "but
the bare-faced robbery of the Lee Myung-bak group can be no more accepted."
A source said Friday that North Korea has unmasked a greater number of coastline
artillery and stepped up its drills along the maritime demarcation.
Two weeks ago, North Korea warned it was scrapping a 1991 non-aggression
agreement with South Korea and that it will no more respect the NLL. Pyongyang
had earlier vowed to take an "all-out confrontational posture" against the South.
Intelligence sources say North Korea now appears to be preparing to test-launch a
long-range missile, which in theory can reach the west coast of the United
States.
"If the Lee Myung-bak group intrudes even one inch into our divine territorial
waters, priding itself on the groundless, unreasonable Northern Limit Line, our
patience will explode with the anger of justice, and we will thoroughly crush the
warmongers into the raw waters of the Yellow Sea, the Rodong Sinmun said.
Seoul officials sounded tough. The government is "closely watching the situation
and its position is clear that any provocation will be resolutely dealt with,"
new Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a parliamentary interpellation
session.
Seoul analysts say Pyongyang is using the missile ploy and other threats to grab
the attention of the new U.S. administration and pressure the conservative Lee
government into dropping its hard-line policy. Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea
specialist with Korea University in Seoul, said North Korea may try to fire
warning shots in the Yellow Sea.
"The level of North Korean verbal threats are rising. Clearly, there is a greater
possibility of North Korea trying a military provocation in the Yellow Sea," Yoo
said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
The renewed warning issued by the North's party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, was
even more specific than previous threats.
The South Korean military kept a tense vigil along the border in the Yellow Sea,
along which two bloody naval skirmishes occurred over the past decade, leaving
scores of soldiers dead or wounded on both sides.
The western sea border is "thoroughly unfair and sheer robbery," the Rodong
Sinmun said in a commentary titled "Northern Limit Line that can no longer work."
The western sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), has been a powder
keg on the peninsula. It was unilaterally drawn by the U.N. Command after the
1950-1953 Korean War and has been consistently disavowed by North Korea.
The Workers' Party newspaper called the NLL a "ghost border" and accused Seoul's
Lee Myung-bak government of trying to incite a war by insisting on it.
"The fact that the Lee Myung-bak group continues to hold onto this ghost border
clearly testifies to its wicked plot to initiate military clashes," it said, "but
the bare-faced robbery of the Lee Myung-bak group can be no more accepted."
A source said Friday that North Korea has unmasked a greater number of coastline
artillery and stepped up its drills along the maritime demarcation.
Two weeks ago, North Korea warned it was scrapping a 1991 non-aggression
agreement with South Korea and that it will no more respect the NLL. Pyongyang
had earlier vowed to take an "all-out confrontational posture" against the South.
Intelligence sources say North Korea now appears to be preparing to test-launch a
long-range missile, which in theory can reach the west coast of the United
States.
"If the Lee Myung-bak group intrudes even one inch into our divine territorial
waters, priding itself on the groundless, unreasonable Northern Limit Line, our
patience will explode with the anger of justice, and we will thoroughly crush the
warmongers into the raw waters of the Yellow Sea, the Rodong Sinmun said.
Seoul officials sounded tough. The government is "closely watching the situation
and its position is clear that any provocation will be resolutely dealt with,"
new Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a parliamentary interpellation
session.
Seoul analysts say Pyongyang is using the missile ploy and other threats to grab
the attention of the new U.S. administration and pressure the conservative Lee
government into dropping its hard-line policy. Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea
specialist with Korea University in Seoul, said North Korea may try to fire
warning shots in the Yellow Sea.
"The level of North Korean verbal threats are rising. Clearly, there is a greater
possibility of North Korea trying a military provocation in the Yellow Sea," Yoo
said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
