By Kang Seung-woo
The defense ministry said Tuesday that North Korea’s National Defense Commission sent a fax to the National Security Office, Monday, urging the cancellation of a live-fire drill near the South’s northwestern border islands. The one-day exercise started later in the day.
“North Korea called on South Korea to scrap its plan to hold a live-fire artillery exercise, threatening grave consequences,” ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said at a briefing.
According to Kim, the ministry’s policy director immediately replied to the North, stressing, “The drill is a legitimate exercise that is held in its own territorial waters, and proposed family reunions should not be affected by it.”
Pyongyang offered to hold reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War last week and Seoul proposed Monday that the two sides hold them between Feb. 17 and 22. However, the North has yet to reply to the proposal.
The South Korean military is maintaining firm stance against any North Korean attacks and will strike back if provoked, Kim added. Its Marine Corps stationed on Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands have regularly held live-fire drills to deter threats posed by the reclusive state.
Following the North’s shelling of Yeonpyeong in November 2010 that claimed the lives of two Marines and two civilians, the South has bolstered its capabilities near the maritime border.
Meanwhile, the Stalinist country has shown signs of temporarily stopping the flying of balloons loaded with propaganda leaflets criticizing the South near the border.
“As the North Korean military has halted sending propaganda leaflets in the last two weeks, we are conducting an in-depth analysis of their intentions,” a senior military official said.
“Leaflets that strongly denounce South Korea have not been found near Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands.”
Earlier this month, the North threatened to mercilessly attack the South’s Marine Corps based on the border islands, but then proposed halting all cross-border propaganda and balloons have not been detected, according to military sources.
“At this point, it is not clear whether North Korea didn't fly leaflets due to weather conditions or stopped them because of a new policy," a source said.