By Kim Young-jin
Future attacks by North Korea could target mainland South Korea, not a border island, a Japanese newspaper reported as the South remains on its highest alert after Pyongyang’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.
Citing a source familiar with North Korea, the Tokyo Shimbun reported that a high-ranking military official in the North Korean army said late last month there would be an attack on Gyeonggi Province within the year.
The report came amid concerns of another attack after the South and the United States held four days of joint naval drills.
Seoul officials say the North will likely carry out more belligerent acts in a bid to further ratchet up regional tension. In anticipation, the military has beefed up its capabilities on the five West Sea islands near the maritime border.
Inter-Korean tensions have soared in the wake of the bold daylight shelling, which came eight months after the North sank the South’s warship Cheonan near the disputed border.
The North Korean official also said there would be another attack on South Korean warships in the West Sea, the report said. President Lee Myung-bak has pledged to make the North pay a “dear price” if it strikes again.
Meanwhile, Radio Free Asia reported that the North appears to be readying its military at a West Sea base.
Citing a well-informed source, RFA reported that additional commanders have been dispatched to the base in South Hwanghae Province to check on the preparedness of soldiers there, who are operating under a special state of readiness.
On Tuesday, outgoing Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers of the “substantial possibility” of additional provocative acts after the joint drills, adding the military was “fully prepared to launch counterattacks.”
Seoul is considering holding a live-fire exercise next week and consulting with Washington about holding additional drills in western waters.
Analysts say the North could act up again in a bid to consolidate power for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s youngest son and heir, Kim Jong-un.
Such moves could include more shelling, an assault landing on Yeonpyeong, the dispatch of forces to South Korean waters or flying a fighter plane across the Northern Limit Line.
The shelling coincided with Pyongyang’s revelation of a uranium enrichment program. It said Tuesday it is operating thousands of centrifuges after recently unveiling the enrichment plant to a visiting American scientist.
The international community has largely condemned the North for the Yeonpyeong incident, with the notable exception of China, which has called for the resumption of multilateral denuclearization talks. Beijing, analysts say, avoids condemning its communist ally for fear of causing instability on its borders.
Watchers say the North’s periodic raising of tensions in the West Sea coincide with its calls for a peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War to put a legal end to its confrontation with the United States.
