(NK Launch) S. Korean military on alert, fears further provocation

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By Sam Kim
SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea summoned top military commanders Sunday to
their posts and ordered its troops to step up vigilance along the border with
North Korea, fearing Pyongyang may opt to further raise tension after its rocket
launch, officials said.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim
Tae-young launched a "crisis management committee" and issued orders for their
655,000 troops to stay ready against any possible provocations accompanying the
launch, the officials said.
"Monitors have been bolstered in all areas, including land, sea and air, along
the border," Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense,
said.
North Korea appears to have fired a rocket that carried a satellite into space,
officials in Seoul said, but the international community has warned it would be
considered a banned test of ballistic missile technology.
"North Korea could now choose to employ tactics to surprise its enemy when
attention is concentrated on a spot away from the border, and we're staying ready
against any possible scenarios," Lee said.
North Korea repeatedly warned this year of an armed clash with South Korea along
their western sea border where naval battles turned bloody twice over the past
decade.
Its rhetoric against South Korean President Lee Myung-bak turned increasingly
sour, and Pyongyang has cut off all dialogue with Seoul, placing its 1.2 million
troops on an "all-out confrontational posture."
The rocket launch, which South Korea and the U.S. see as a veiled attempt to
test-fire a ballistic missile capable of hitting Alaska, has led Seoul's defense
ministry to order high-level commanders to return to their posts, Lee said.
Video conferences connecting the military officials have been held for
discussions on ways to deal with the heightened tension on the divided peninsula,
other officials said.
South and North Korea remain technically at war as their 1950-53 Korean War ended
in a cease fire and not a peace treaty.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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