Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
NK conducts live-fire exercise
South Korean marine LVT-7 landing craft sail to the shore through a smoke screen during the South Korea-U.S. joint military drill called Ssangyong, part of the Foal Eagle military exercises, in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday. The planned drills come after an increase in threatening rhetoric from Pyongyang and a series of rocket and ballistic missile launches in an apparent protest against annual military exercises by Seoul and Washington. / AP-Yonhap
By Kang Seung-woo
Some 100 shells land south of NLL
By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea fired more than 100 artillery shells across the western sea border, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday.
South Korea responded but no casualties were reported by either side.
“The North held its live-fire exercise in seven regions of the border area, north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), between 12:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and about 100 of 500 shells or so landed south of the NLL,” the JCS said.
The closest round dropped 3.6 kilometers south of the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas.
“In response, the South immediately struck back with K-9 self-propelled howitzers.”
The JSC said its forces responded with more than 300 shells.
Cheong Wa Dae convened the National Security Council to discuss coordinated policies on how to deal with the North’s provocations, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.
The United States also said North Korea's actions were "dangerous and provocative" and will further aggravate tensions in the region.
The defense ministry called the live-fire drill a calculated provocation and the South, along with its U.S. ally, was closely monitoring the situation.
“South Korean and U.S. forces have stepped up their surveillance and vigilance with increased military assets in all parts of the nation to prepare for possible provocations,” defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said in a briefing. “If North Korea uses the live-fire drill as an excuse to launch provocations near South Korean islands and shoreline, we will sternly respond.”
The spokesman added that the United Nations Command proposed general-level talks to the North at around 2:50 p.m., with a two-hour deadline, but it did not responded in the given time period.
The fire exchange came hours after Pyongyang notified Seoul of its plans to carry out live-fire exercises, and warning vessels not to enter the area.
“The Southwestern Command of the Korean People’s Army faxed South Korean Navy’s Second Fleet at 8:00 a.m. to notify us of the drills in seven border regions, north of the NLL, later in the day,” the JCS said in its statement, adding that the closest fire zone was just 900 meters away from the NLL.
In response, the JCS warned the North to keep its drills north of the NLL, or otherwise, the South would take strong countermeasures.
The Army and the Marine Corps maintain combat readiness against the North’s long-range artillery, while fighter jets including F-15K and naval vessels patrolled south of the NLL.
Although North Korea routinely test-fires its artillery near the disputed sea boundary, it is unusual for the Stalinist country to disclose such training plans in advance.
“We consider that the North’s announcement contains hostile intent,” deputy spokesman Col. Wee Yong-sub said in a briefing that took place ahead of the drills.
“North Korea is believed to be creating a crisis situation on the Korean Peninsula by raising tension near the western maritime border.”
The fire drills are seen as the Kim Jong-un regime’s latest move to protest the South’s ongoing joint military exercises with the United States. The Foal Eagle drills are scheduled to end on April 18.
Since Feb. 21, the North has fired a total of 90 rockets and missiles including two mid-range Rodongs in protest against what it calls a rehearsal for an invasion.
As part of the joint military exercises, South Korean and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have been conducting large-scale amphibious landings since Thursday _ their biggest since those held during the annual Team Spirit, held from 1976 until 1993.
North Korean watchers also said that the reclusive state took advantage of the live-fire drills to express its anger.
“Given the pre-notification, the North made clear that the fire was not a provocation, which may have drawn an international outcry,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University.