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(2nd LD) N. Korea warns of 'physical retaliation' against S. Korean drills
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea warned Tuesday of "powerful physical retaliation" against South Korean naval exercises planned later this week off the west coast of the divided Korean Peninsula.
Beginning Thursday, the South Korean Navy will stage five-day anti-submarine drills near the Yellow Sea border with North Korea in a show of force after Seoul blamed Pyongyang for the deadly March 26 sinking of its Cheonan warship in the area. Data picture
The North's military command overseeing the border warned in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency that the planned drills amount to an "undisguised military intrusion" and will be met with a physical response.
"The Command of Forces of the Korean People's Army in the western sector of the front made a decisive resolution to counter the reckless naval firing projected by the group of traitors with strong physical retaliation," it said.
The North Korean command also said in the statement that all vessels, including civilian ships, should avoid sailing the waters near the Yellow Sea border while the South Korean drills last.
North Korea denies the validity of the Yellow Sea border guarded by South Korean forces because it was unilaterally drawn by a U.S general at the conclusion of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce.
The North's military claimed the planned South Korean drills are "reckless politically motivated provocation to preserve" the Northern Limit Line, warning it will "return fire for fire."
The warnings come as a senior U.S. official is in South Korea to discuss a fresh set of measures to tighten diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to claim responsibility for the Cheonan and abandon its nuclear arms programs.
North Korea denies its role in the sinking that claimed the lives of 46 South Korean sailors. Last week, South Korea ended its joint naval exercises with the U.S. in the East Sea, which also served as a warning against future provocations by the communist nation.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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