South Korean military authorities are on alert as the North Korean navy said Monday that it was setting a ``peacetime firing zone" along the inter-Korean border of the West Sea. The North's move is seen as an attempt to nullify the existing maritime border and thereby escalate tensions with the South.
Regrettably, the North made a farfetched claim that its navy was declaring the firing zone to counter the ``reckless military provocations" of the South Korean military. What the North pointed to apparently involves artillery training the South conducted last week near the sea border. The North claimed Friday that the South committed an ``unpardonable military act" by firing artillery in the maritime border area.
But the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff immediately dismissed the North's claim, saying that the artillery training was part of routine drills. The North's real intention behind the firing zone designation might be associated more with its repeated bid to declare the Northern Limit Line (NLL) null and void unilaterally. The NLL is the de facto maritime borderline which was drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Announcing the firing zone plan, the North said, ``Our navy declares the waters on the extension of the Military Demarcation Line in the West Sea under the control of our army as a peacetime naval firing zone of coastal and island artillery units of the KPA (Korean People's Army)." The Military Demarcation Line unquestionably refers to the line the North unilaterally drew just south of the NLL in 1999.
It is worth noting that the plan came after a naval clash between the two Koreas near the NLL last month. The skirmish took place as a patrol boat of the North crossed into the southern waters. A North Korean sailor was reportedly killed and three others wounded in the exchange of gunfire. Speculation has it that the North might want to wage naval attacks in retaliation for the incident.
However, it is still not certain whether the North will effectively enforce the firing zone over its unilateral demarcation line which includes part of the southern waters below the NLL. The two Koreas already engaged in bloody naval skirmishes at the volatile West Sea border in 1999 and 2002. Thus, it is necessary for the South Korean military to tighten its defense postures to thwart any potential provocations from the North.
The South should not play into the hands of the Kim Jong-il regime, which is trying to make the maritime border a disputed area in order to raise its voice for a peace treaty with the United States. During a visit to Pyongyang by U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth early this month, North Korean officials reportedly called for a treaty that would replace the current armistice to officially end the Korean War. But we cannot help questioning the North's motives, given that it keeps backpedaling on its denuclearization process without discarding its notorious brinksmanship and saber-rattling tactics.