S. Korean military says Yellow Sea firing drill to be conducted Monday

 

South Korea's military plans to hold live-fire exercises 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 drills go ahead.

 

The communist nation has warned that it would respond to the South's artillery drills from 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."

 

The firing will begin after 1 p.m. and last less than two hours, defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said, adding that the exercise has not started yet because of fog in the area.

 

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.

 

In the meantime, the UN Security Council failed on Sunday to reach accord on a statement on the Korean military crisis, but contacts will be pursued between the main powers, Russia's UN envoy said.

 

The UN Security Council held emergency talks Sunday on escalating Korean tensions but the major powers wrangled over whether to condemn North Korea for the crisis.

 

   Russia had called for the council to send a "restraining signal" to the two Koreas -- with the South vowing to stage a new live-fire military drill and the North threatening retaliation.

 

   After more than six hours of talks however, the five permanent powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- remained split on whether the communist North should be publicly blamed for causing the heightened tensions with its November 23 artillery attack on Yeonpyeong island.

 

   China and Russia, North Korea's near neighbors and main allies, rejected western demands that the North be named as the attacker, diplomats said.

 

   China even refused to let the name Yeonpyeong be included in a proposed Council statement, one diplomat said.

 

   Russia and China instead proposed a text which urged "maximum restraint" on the Korean peninsula and called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send a special envoy to negotiate "urgent measures" with the two governments.

 

   Britain, backed by France, the United States and Japan, had proposed a text which "deplored" North Korea's artillery attack.

 

   This was rejected by China and Russia which then proposed an implicit condemnation of the Pyongyang regime by referring to a statement by the UN secretary general which called the Yeonpyong attack "one of the gravest incidents since the end of the Korean War."

 

   The 15 Security Council members heard a briefing on the latest Korean crisis from B. Lynn Pascoe, UN undersecretary general for political affairs, and also had private talks with the UN ambassadors from North and South Korea.

 

   Russia's original draft statement called for "maximum restraint" by North and South Korea, diplomats said.

 

   The Russian document sought "a resumption of dialogue and resolution of all problems dividing them exclusively through peaceful diplomatic means," diplomats said.

 

   South Korea, backed by the United States, has vowed to stage live firing drill exercises near Yeonpyeong as soon as bad weather eases.

 

   North Korea has warned of "disaster" if the exercise goes ahead and South Korea has reportedly said it has seen signs that the North Korean military is on higher alert.

 

   The Russian statement would call on Ban immediately send a special representative to North and South Korea "to consult on urgent measures to settle peacefully the current crisis situation in the Korean peninsula."

 

   Russia called for the emergency meeting on Saturday and expressed some anger that it was only held the next day.

 

   "We believe that the Security Council must send a restraining signal" to South and North Korea, the Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.

 

   The council must "help launch diplomatic activities with a view to resolving all issues of dispute between the two Korean sides by political and diplomatic means," he said late Saturday.

 

The Source: The Korea Herald