S. Korean military says Yellow Sea firing drill to be conducted Monday (3rd LD): SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military plans to hold a live-fire exercise later Monday from a border island shelled by North Korea last month, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, sending tensions soaring amid Pyongyang's threats to strike back if the drill goes ahead.
The communist nation has warned that it would respond to the South's artillery drill on Yeonpyeong Island with "unpredictable self-defensive blows," sparking fears of a recurrence of last month's deadly clash in which the North bombarded the Yellow Sea island. The shelling devastated the fishing village, killing four people, including two civilians.
"The military has decided to conduct the firing drill today (Monday)," said a JCS official, adding the exercise will be held south of the inter-Korean maritime border. "The exact time for the firing drill will depend on the weather conditions around the island area."
Sources said the drill is likely to be held between 11 a.m. and noon.
North Korea's military has been making moves similar to those taken ahead of last month's attack, removing covers from coastal artillery guns and forward-deploying some artillery batteries, a military source said. In the run-up to last month's attack, the North had forward-deployed four artillery batteries and uncovered 14 coastal artillery guns.
Officials said they were broadcasting warnings that those staying on the island take refuge. About 280 people, including residents, reporters and government officials, are staying on the island near the Yellow Sea border between the two sides, officials said.
"This exercise is a routine and legitimate one that we have regularly held from a long time ago to defend the northwestern islands," a JCS official said on condition of anonymity. "Representatives from the Armistice Commission and the United Nations Command plan to watch the drill."
South Korea is watching the North's military moves closely while maintaining full preparedness to respond to possible North Korean provocations, the official said, pledging to give an "immediate and strong" response in case of provocations.
The exercise is designed to have artillery shells land in waters more than 10 kilometers away from the maritime border, a military official said, stressing that the maneuvers are not meant to provoke North Korea. Vulcan guns and 105-millimeter light howitzers would be mobilized for the drill, officials said.
North Korea has deployed fake artillery guns on its west coast in a move seen as aimed at confusing targets in a possible clash, a government source said. The fake guns were shaped like 120- and 140-millimeter artillery guns, the source said.
China and Russia have urged both Koreas to exercise restraint, expressing concern that the drill could escalate into a bigger conflict. China has summoned the ambassadors from the two Koreas in Beijing to file such concern while Russia issued a statement urging Seoul to call off the exercise plans.
The U.S. has backed South Korea, saying the Asian ally has the right to hold such an exercise.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council convened an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the tensions. A Russian-proposed draft statement urged all parties concerned to "exercise maximum restraint" and called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send an envoy to Seoul and Pyongyang for a "resumption of dialogue and resolution of all problems dividing them exclusively through peaceful diplomatic means."
The session lasted more than eight hours, but no statement was issued as China, a veto-holding permanent member of the Council refused to condemn the North's artillery attack last month. All Council members but China are in favor of including a phrase in a statement condemning the North, a U.N. official said.
China is considered having the biggest influence over Pyongyang as the country's main provider of food and energy aid as well as diplomatic support. But Beijing has been unwilling to use the leverage over concerns that instability in the North could hurt its political and economic interests.
The U.N. ambassadors from the two Koreas made their cases at the Council meeting.
Seoul's Ambassador Park In-kook stressed that South Korea has the right to the exercise in its own territorial waters in the context of self-defense, while the North's envoy, Sin Son-ho, claimed that the drill is a provocation and the country will be forced to give a military response.
The two Koreas are still technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to deter threats from North Korea.
The Yellow Sea border has been the constant source of military tension between the two sides as North Korea refuses to recognize the boundary drawn by the U.N. at the end of the Korean War. Pyongyang claims the line should be redrawn further south, but the South has rejected the demand, saying the North should first respect the boundary.
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