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

Some shells land south of NLL

By Kang Seung-woo

North Korea fired 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 began its live-fire drills in seven regions of the border area, north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), at 12:15 p.m. and about 100 of 500 shells fired landed south of the NLL,” the JCS said. The closest round dropped 3.6 kilometers south of the NLL.

“In response, the South immediately struck back with K-9 self-propelled howitzers.”

The JSC said its forces responded with around 300 shells.

Residents of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands, which lie just south of the NLL, were evacuated to temporary shelters, the military said.

The fire exchange came hours after Pyongyang notified Seoul of its plans to carry out live-fire exercises, 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 de facto border.

Although North Korea routinely test-fires its artillery near the disputed sea boundary, it is unusual for the Stalinist country to disclose such plans in advance.

The defense ministry said its military has stepped up vigilance against possible provocative actions, denouncing the notification as a hostile attempt to inflame tension on the Korean Peninsula.

“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 drills with the United States. The Foal Eagle exercise is 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 drills, South Korean and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have been conducting large-scale amphibious landings since Thursday — the biggest joint marine drills between the two nations 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 at the exercise.

“Given the pre-notification, the North made clear that the fire was not a provocation, which may have drawn international outcry,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University.