Military on High Alert for N. Korean Provocations
By Kim Sue-young, Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporters
South Korean troops near the western sea border with North Korea have been placed on top alert Wednesday to brace for any possible North Korean provocative acts.
The move comes as Pyongyang declared the nullification of the Korean War armistice earlier in the day and warned of a military response should South Korea attempt to intercept any of its ships after joining the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).
South Korea announced a day earlier that it would participate in the PSI in a full-fledged manner to help prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, following North Korea's second nuclear test and test-firing of short-range missiles Monday. Seoul has participated in the multinational ship-interdicting operations as a observer in an effort not to harm ties with Pyongyang.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in Seoul said in a statement that its military would ``sternly deal with'' any North Korean provocations based on the strong combined force readiness with the U.S. military.
South Korean military authorities believe there is a high possibility that North Korea could soon provoke conflicts near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea, where two bloody naval battles occurred between the two Koreas in 1999 and 2002.
The NLL, drawn up by the United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, has served as the de facto inter-Korean sea border. The North, however, has sought to nullify the sea border.
The Navy deployed a 3,500-ton KDX-I light destroyer to waters off the country's western coast to counter a possible attack by North Korean patrol ships, according to JCS.
The Army, for its part, has increased the number of K-9 howitzers and surface-to-air missile systems on islands near the sea borderline to counter potential North Korean artillery attacks.
Pyongyang is said to have deployed thousands of weapons hidden in mountain caves and tunnels near the inter-Korean land and sea borders.
The North Korean army has about eight 27-kilometer-range 130mm guns and eight other 76.2mm artillery units with a range of 12 kilometers on islands located just north of the NLL. Pyongyang is also believed to be deploying about 100 152mm howitzer guns with a range of 17 kilometers near the port of Haeju.
``I cannot elaborate, but we are constantly bolstering equipment,'' a JCS official said. ``We are also devising a range of countermeasures in accordance with scenarios on North Korea's provocative action.''
The North threatened a military response in retaliation for Seoul becoming a full participant in the PSI anti-WMDs campaign.
``Our revolutionary armed forces, as they have already declared, will regard the Lee Myung-bak group of traitors' full participation in the PSI as a declaration of war against the DPRK,'' said a statement issued by its military mission to the joint security area in the truce village of Panmunjeom.
The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
The anti-proliferation campaign calls for participating countries to interdict and seize ships and planes suspected of carrying WMDs.
The statement continued, ``Accordingly, they will regard any hostile actions against the DPRK, including checkups and inspections of its peaceful vessels, as an unpardonable encroachment on the DPRK's sovereignty and counter them with prompt and strong military strikes.''
The North said it couldn't guarantee the safety of military vessels and private ships near the western sea border.
``We will not guarantee the legal status of the five islands under the South sides' control in our sides' territorial waters northwest of the extension of the Military Demarcation Line in the West Sea and safe sailing of warships of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces and the South Korean puppet navy and civilian ships operating in the waters around there,'' the statement said.
``The Korean People's Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer since the present ruling quarters of the United States, keen on moves to stifle the DPRK, plugged the South Korean puppets in the PSI at last,'' it said.
The international community, meanwhile, is poised to begin working on a new U.N. Security Council resolution in a bid to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea.
``We share a common set of objectives, which are to convey very clearly and unequivocally that the actions by North Korea run counter to the interest of regional peace and security, violate international law and need to be dealt with directly and seriously,'' U.S Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters after a meeting in New York with her counterparts from Britain, France and South Korea.