North Korea warned Sunday it will bombard islands near the disputed Yellow Sea border with South Korea if an upcoming naval firing drill by Seoul violates its territorial waters.
South Korean troops stationed on the five border islands will stage a regular monthly live-fire exercise in the area Monday, a Marine Corps spokesman told AFP. The North’s Western Sector Command warned residents of the islands to “evacuate to safe areas” before what it said was the scheduled start time of the exercise at 9 am Monday (midnight Sunday GMT).
In a notice carried by Pyongyang’s official news agency, the North’s military said Seoul “should not forget the lesson” of the bombardment of Yeonpyeong island in November 2010, which killed four South Koreans.
“Once the group of traitors starts a reckless military provocation in those waters… in case just a single column of water is observed in its territorial waters, the KPA (North’s military) will promptly make merciless retaliatory strikes,” it said.
Pyongyang has taken a hostile tone towards Seoul since Kim Jong-Un, the youngest son of the late leader Kim Jong-Il, took over following the death of his father in December.
The North has said the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong was in retaliation for a South Korean live-fire exercise which dropped shells into waters claimed by Pyongyang.
The 2010 attack briefly sparked fears of war and triggered a major South Korean military build-up on the islands. Seoul has vowed to hit back harder, using air power, for any fresh strike.
The Marine Corps spokesman said the planned live-fire drill — which involves all artillery deployed in the area including K-9 self-propelled guns — is part of its regular exercises.
“There is nothing special or new in the drill for this month compared to past ones. This is something we’ve been doing every month,” he told AFP.
Yonhap news agency quoted a Joint Chiefs of Staff official as saying: “If North Korea provokes, we will hit back from the standpoint of exercising our right to self-defence.”
