Tensions spiked earlier Monday when the South said it would carry out the planned exercise from Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, which was bombarded in a North Korean artillery strike on Nov. 23, leaving four people dead, including two civilians.
In the run-up to the exercise, Pyongyang warned that it would respond to the South's drill with "unpredictable self-defensive blows," sparking fears of a recurrence of last month's shelling.
"During the exercise, the North Korean military strengthened vigilance and maintained preparedness, but did not make any additional provocations," JCS spokesman Lee Bung-woo said. "Our military will continue to keep firm military preparedness to defend the northwestern islands and safeguard our sovereignty."
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K-9 self-propelled howitzers and other weapons deployed on Yeonpyeong Island were used in Monday's 94-minute exercise that ended around 4:04 p.m., the JCS spokesman said, without giving further details, such as how many rounds were fired.
But a military source said that about 1,000 rounds were fired during the exercise that was also attended by representatives from the Military Armistice Commission and the U.S.-led United Nations Command.
To prepare for a possible North Korean provocation, South Korea had F-15K fighter jets on standby over the Yellow Sea during the drill, and about 10 naval ships, including an Aegis-equipped destroyer, were deployed to the waters off the west coast, officials said.
About 280 residents, reporters and government officials staying on the island took refuge at air-raid shelters on the island.
President Lee Myung-bak stressed that South Korea has the right to conduct such exercises.
"It is a matter of course that a divided nation in a military standoff conduct a military exercise to defend its territory as a sovereign state," Lee told the presidential chief of staff, Yim Tae-hee, during a briefing on the drill, according to chief presidential spokesman Hong Sang-pyo.
"No one can dispute this," Lee said, instructing officials to make sure that the country remains fully prepared for North Korean provocations after Monday's exercise, according to the spokesman. Lee rarely spoke during the briefing, but had a "stern face," Hong said.
Later in the day, Gen. Han Min-koo, chairman of the JCS, instructed the military to remain on alert, saying North Korea can stage provocations at any time and that the military should not relax vigilance just because there was no additional North Korean provocation, according to the ministry.
The lack of North Korean action came with reports of Pyongyang's renewed willingness to negotiate.
U.S. cable news channel CNN said the North told the visiting New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that it would allow U.N. nuclear inspectors back into its Yongbyon nuclear complex and negotiate the transfer of 12,000 fresh fuel rods out of the country.
The North also agreed to consider Richardson's proposals for a military commission among the two Koreas and the U.S., as well as a hotline to connect the Koreas' militaries, the report said. Richardson's trip included talks with Pyongyang's main nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan.
Earlier in the day, officials said that the North's military appeared to be making preparations for a counterattack, removing covers from coastal artillery guns and forward-deploying some artillery batteries, a military source said. The North had made similar moves ahead of last month's attack on Yeonpyeong.
The North was also seen as having 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.
South Korean officials have stressed that the exercise is routine and defensive and not meant to provoke North Korea, saying that it was designed to have artillery shells land in waters more than 10 kilometers from the maritime border.
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 express 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 except 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 or denounce Pyongyang 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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Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Bung-woo speaks during a press briefing on South Korea's live-fire exercise near North Korea on Dec. 20 (Yonhap) |
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