YONHAP NEWS

N. Korea strengthens military deployment near sea border: report

SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has beefed up military deployments along the maritime border with South Korea in the Yellow Sea by deploying dozens of multiple rocket launchers, a South Korean defense report said Friday.

   Since a navy skirmish last November, the communist North has reinforced defense near the western sea border and increased drills near the area, according to a report the defense ministry submitted to the parliament.

   The poorly marked maritime border is a constant source of tension between the two Koreas with the November skirmish reportedly leaving one North Korean sailor dead.

   For three days from Jan. 27, Pyongyang unilaterally designated "no-sail zones" and escalated military tensions with Seoul by firing some 350 artillery shells into the waters near the border.

   South Korea sees the multiple rocket launchers as key threat to the security of its capital and adjacent areas. One launcher can shoot up to 22 rockets with a range of up to 60 kilometers.

   "We have prepared ourselves for 33 possible North Korean attack scenarios," the report said, adding South Korea will immediately scramble F-15K fighter jets should it detect an air offensive from the North.

   "We will shoot any enemy aircraft down using our right to self-defense in case of an invasion or provocation," it added.

   South Korea is still technically at war with the North as their 1950-53 war ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, and believes Pyongyang possesses enough plutonium to build at least six atomic bombs.

   North Korea, which relies on outside aid to feed its 24 million people, maintains a military of 1.2 million troops.

   hayney@yna.co.kr
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