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By Jun Ji-hye
Fifty North Korean submarines have left their bases since Saturday, hours before high-level inter-Korea talks took place at the truce village of Panmunjeom the same day, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
The ministry said Pyongyang is showing a dual attitude as it is raising military tension further while high-level officials hold a dialogue with their South Korean counterparts.
The submarines, which account for about 70 percent of its fleet, set sail from their bases on the west and east coasts for unknown locations, the ministry said. South Korea has yet to identify their exact locations, it added.
The North technically has a significant numerical superiority with a fleet of 77 subs _ 20 of them being 1,800-ton Romeo class vessels imported from the former Soviet Union and China. The South believes the North is developing the capability to fire submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM).
The military is enhancing patrols by P-3C Orion surveillance planes and destroyers equipped with Lynx helicopters tasked with detecting the submarines, officials said.
The ministry said the North also doubled the number of 76.2-millimeter guns along the border prior to the talks.
"North Korean frontline units are on a hair-trigger alert," a ministry official told reporters asking not to be named. "The soldiers there are also maintaining combat readiness in full gear."
In response, South Korea deployed additional multiple launch rocket systems.
Officials said the military will remain on high alert as there is a strong possibility that the repressive state will launch additional provocations if the negotiations fall through.
"The alliance of South Korea and the United States will react to any provocations," the official said.
Defense watchers also noted that the North's ambivalent attitude might have been designed to gain an advantageous position in the talks.
South Korean officials have also detected signs that North Korean border soldiers are training to destroy the loudspeakers used by the South to broadcast propaganda.
But the official said the broadcasting is still taking place from 11 places, noting that the ministry will continue to do so until the North takes responsibility for landmine explosions inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on Aug. 4.
As Pyongyang has threatened to take military action against the loudspeakers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff notched up their watchcon alert to level 2 from 3 after consulting with the ROK-US Combined Forces Command in order to closely monitor the movement of North Korean soldiers.
"Our soldiers are preparing thoroughly for possible gunfights between the two Koreas," the official said. "Our position is to retaliate against any provocations with speed and accuracy."
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