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S. Korea on alert for reprisals
Source: Agencies |
December 22, 2010, Wednesday
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A SOUTH Korean destroyer prowled the sea and fighter jets screamed across the skies yesterday in preparation for possible North Korean attacks a day after staging provocative artillery drills on an island the North shelled last month.
North Korea has said it would not retaliate for the exercises off Yeonpyeong Island - reversing its earlier threats. A senior South Korean government official, however, said that the lack of response so far does not mean Pyongyang is backing down, noting that North Korea thrives on "surprise" attacks.
Pyongyang considers the waters around the island - a tiny enclave of fishing communities and military bases within sight of North Korean shores - its territory, and similar drills last month triggered an artillery barrage that killed four South Koreans.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who made an unofficial visit to North Korea this week, praised Pyongyang's "statesmanlike" restraint.
Richardson, a former United States ambassador to the United Nations who has served as an unofficial envoy to North Korea in the past, said in Beijing yesterday that during the trip North Korean officials agreed to let UN atomic inspectors visit its main nuclear complex to make sure the facility is not producing enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb. That, Richardson said, could provide an opening for a resumption of talks aimed at dismantling the country's nuclear program.
North Korea pulled out of six-nation talks to provide Pyongyang with aid in exchange for disarmament in April 2009, but since has said it is willing to resume them.
In Seoul, meanwhile, top officials defended South Korea's decision to carry out more drills despite calls in some quarters for restraint amid fears of all-out war.
Pyongyang denounced the 90-minute exercise as a "reckless military provocation" but held its fire. However, the Korean People's Army showed no signs of pulling back.
SA-2 ground-to-air missile and ground-to-ship missiles have been deployed by North Korea in the west - where the Koreas dispute their sea border - and are poised to fire artillery, South's Yonhap news agency reported.
North Korea has said it would not retaliate for the exercises off Yeonpyeong Island - reversing its earlier threats. A senior South Korean government official, however, said that the lack of response so far does not mean Pyongyang is backing down, noting that North Korea thrives on "surprise" attacks.
Pyongyang considers the waters around the island - a tiny enclave of fishing communities and military bases within sight of North Korean shores - its territory, and similar drills last month triggered an artillery barrage that killed four South Koreans.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who made an unofficial visit to North Korea this week, praised Pyongyang's "statesmanlike" restraint.
Richardson, a former United States ambassador to the United Nations who has served as an unofficial envoy to North Korea in the past, said in Beijing yesterday that during the trip North Korean officials agreed to let UN atomic inspectors visit its main nuclear complex to make sure the facility is not producing enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb. That, Richardson said, could provide an opening for a resumption of talks aimed at dismantling the country's nuclear program.
North Korea pulled out of six-nation talks to provide Pyongyang with aid in exchange for disarmament in April 2009, but since has said it is willing to resume them.
In Seoul, meanwhile, top officials defended South Korea's decision to carry out more drills despite calls in some quarters for restraint amid fears of all-out war.
Pyongyang denounced the 90-minute exercise as a "reckless military provocation" but held its fire. However, the Korean People's Army showed no signs of pulling back.
SA-2 ground-to-air missile and ground-to-ship missiles have been deployed by North Korea in the west - where the Koreas dispute their sea border - and are poised to fire artillery, South's Yonhap news agency reported.
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