North Korea fires artillery into sea

North Korea fired an artillery barrage yesterday into waters near the disputed inter-Korean sea border as tensions rose over a South Korean naval exercise and the seizure of one of Seoul’s fishing boats.

Seoul military officials said the North’s batteries fired about 130 shells into the Yellow Sea soon after the South’s navy ended a five-day naval exercise south of the borderline – for which the North had threatened retaliation.

“Our navy was placed on high alert, closely watching the movement of North Korean troops,” a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesman said. The North’s seizure a South Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) on Sunday, on the other side of the peninsula, has further inflamed tensions. Most shells landed on the North Korean side of the borderline but some fell on the southern side, according to a JCS official quoted by Yonhap news agency.

Three minutes after the firing began at 5.30 p.m. , the South’s navy patrol ships warned the North Koreans by radio to stop firing but the warning was ignored, the official said.

South Korea’s largest-ever anti-submarine exercise was a show of force after Seoul accused its neighbour of torpedoing a South Korean warship in March near the contested border. The North, which denies staging the attack that killed 46 sailors, had warned of “strong physical retaliation” against the navy drill which it described as a preparation for invasion.

The border drawn by UN forces after the 1950-1953 Korean War was the scene of deadly naval battles in 1999 and 2002 and a firefight last November which left a North Korean boat in flames.