SEOUL: North and South Korea traded artillery fire near their disputed sea border Wednesday and Pyongyang vowed to press on with live firing exercises, ratcheting up tensions anew between the Cold War foes.
“Such firing drill by the units of the KPA will go on in the same waters in the future,” the (North) Korean People’s Army General Staff said in a statement, hours after its first exercise at the flashpoint border sparked an exchange of fire between the two militaries.
South Korea condemned the North’s artillery fire as “a gravely provocative act” and warned it would respond sternly to future provocations.
North Korean land artillery batteries fired about 30 shells over more than an hour into the sea north of the disputed west coast borderline, Seoul officials said.
South Korean Marines on a nearby island responded by firing about 100 warning shots from Vulcan cannons.
No casualties or damage were reported but the incident further raised tensions along the sea border, the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002. The latest firefight in the area on November 10 left a North Korean patrol boat in flames.
The North’s army said it had staged an annual artillery live firing drill in its own waters with which “no one can argue”.
The drill came a day after the communist North declared two “no sail zones” around the borderline, which has been a persistent flashpoint since it was drawn up by United Nations forces after the 1950-53 Korean War. Related article: Korea’s history of clashes
The North refuses to accept the line and says it should run further to the south.
“There is only the extension of the Military Demarcation Line recognised by the DPRK (North Korea)…” its military statement said.
The two nations have remained technically at war since their conflict ended without a formal peace treaty.
South Korea called an emergency meeting of security and other ministers.
A senior South Korean military officer told a briefing that Seoul would have counter-attacked rather than just firing warning shots had the North’s shells landed in the South’s waters, Yonhap news agency reported.
“The North committed a gravely provocative act by declaring no-sail zones in the Yellow Sea in breach of the (Korean War) armistice and the inter-Korean non-aggression pact,” Seoul’s defence ministry said in a statement.
“We expressed grave concerns over the North’s threatening behaviour and demanded an immediate halt to all such activities.”
The protest was contained in a message sent to the North’s side.
“The military will strongly react to any provocative acts by the North and all the responsibility for consequences will rest with the Northern side,” the ministry said.
Baek Seung-Joo, of the Korea Institute for Defence Analyses, said before the North’s latest announcement that Pyongyang would probably persist with its current strategy for some time.
“North Korea will likely continue such low-intensity military provocations like this in the next few months,” Baek told AFP.
“But it is unlikely to take things to the extreme, as in general it wants to maintain economic cooperation with South Korea.”
The sanctions-hit North has sent mixed messages to its neighbour in recent months. It is pressing to upgrade or restart joint business projects with the South, while its military at the same time has issued threats of war.
Pyongyang also demands talks with the United States on a formal peace treaty before returning to nuclear disarmament negotiations.
The November clash broke out when a North Korean patrol boat crossed the border and refused to turn back despite warnings, according to Seoul.
The firefight left the North’s boat retreating in flames and one South Korean craft with bullet holes in its hull. There was no information on North Korean casualties, while the South’s crewmen were unhurt.
Last month the North warned South Korean ships to avoid the border area, saying its coastal artillery would stage firing exercises in response to “reckless military provocations”.
On Sunday the military lashed out at South Korea’s vow to launch a preemptive strike to thwart any nuclear attack, calling it “an open declaration of war”.
