NK border unit awarded hero's title for attack on S. Korean island

A North Korean western sea artillery unit responsible for the country's 2010 deadly bombardment of a South Korean island has been awarded a hero's title following the North's leader Kim Jong-un's visit there, Pyongyang's media reported Sunday.

"The defense detachment of the Korean People's Army on Mu Islet and artillery piece No. 1 of a coast artillery company of the detachment were awarded the title of the DPRK (North Korea) hero along with a gold star medal and Order of National Flag First Class," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a brief English-language dispatch.

"The detachment of the KPA unit 2939 hit the targets to mercilessly smash provocations of the enemy for aggression and display the spirit of the heroic KPA all over the world," the report said, noting that a relevant decree of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly was issued on Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday, the KCNA said Kim Jong-un paid a visit to the artillery units on Mu Islet, or Mudo, and nearby Jangjae Islet, extolling service members as heroes and telling them never to tolerate enemy aggression.

The North's unit shelled the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong in November 2010, killing two civilians and two soldiers. It marked the North's first attack on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, though the sides have fought naval skirmishes.

The visit to the unit on the North's border island of Mudo near the tense western sea border came days before South Korea and the United States are to launch their annual joint exercise, Ulchi Freedom Guardian. The computer-assisted exercises, set for Aug. 20-31, will involve some 56,000 South Korean troops and about 30,000 U.S. soldiers.

In a notable gesture, meanwhile, Kim reached the western sea border islets aboard an unarmed wooden boat, according to the KCNA and the footage of Pyongyang's Korean Central Television.

The KCNA and the television station said Kim was accompanied only by a dozen officials, including Choe Ryong-hae, director of the KPA's General Political Bureau, and arrived the islets by a wooden boat of 27 h.p. despite rough waves without any prior notice.

An analyst in Seoul said Kim's use of a small wooden boat had been elaborately planned beforehand for political and security purposes.

"Kim may have attempted to display his courage to the military and public and gain their favor. In addition, he may also have attempted to avoid our military's radar surveillance," said the analyst. (Yonhap)