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Pyongyang threatens Seoul with a 'sea of fire'
Source: Agencies |
November 25, 2011, Friday
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NORTH Korea yesterday threatened to turn Seoul's presidential palace into a "sea of fire," a day after South Korea conducted large-scale military exercises near a frontline island attacked by Pyongyang last year.
On Wednesday, South Korea mobilized aircraft, rocket launchers, artillery and naval vessels for the first anniversary of the artillery attack on a military garrison and fishing community on Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. Two marines and two construction workers were killed in the attack, the first on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Pyongyang accuses Seoul of provoking last year's attack, saying it struck after warning South Korea not to hold live-fire drills in the disputed waters. South Korea has said it fired shells southward, not toward North Korea, as part of routine exercises last year.
In a statement, Pyongyang's People's Army warned: "If they dare to impair our dignity again, the deluge of fire on Yeonpyeong Island will lead to the sea of fire in the Blue House (in Seoul). They should not forget the lesson taught" by the island shelling.
If provoked again like last year, Pyongyang's military will "blow up the island without any trace," North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland said in a separate statement yesterday.
The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950s conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea disputes the maritime border drawn by the UN in 1953, and the waters have been a flashpoint for violence over the years.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Jung Seung-jo said his forces would "crush the enemy" if North Korea strikes again.
Wednesday's maneuvers took place off Baengnyeong Island near the maritime border.
On Wednesday, South Korea mobilized aircraft, rocket launchers, artillery and naval vessels for the first anniversary of the artillery attack on a military garrison and fishing community on Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. Two marines and two construction workers were killed in the attack, the first on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Pyongyang accuses Seoul of provoking last year's attack, saying it struck after warning South Korea not to hold live-fire drills in the disputed waters. South Korea has said it fired shells southward, not toward North Korea, as part of routine exercises last year.
In a statement, Pyongyang's People's Army warned: "If they dare to impair our dignity again, the deluge of fire on Yeonpyeong Island will lead to the sea of fire in the Blue House (in Seoul). They should not forget the lesson taught" by the island shelling.
If provoked again like last year, Pyongyang's military will "blow up the island without any trace," North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland said in a separate statement yesterday.
The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950s conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea disputes the maritime border drawn by the UN in 1953, and the waters have been a flashpoint for violence over the years.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Jung Seung-jo said his forces would "crush the enemy" if North Korea strikes again.
Wednesday's maneuvers took place off Baengnyeong Island near the maritime border.
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