N.Korea fires coastal artillery near Yeonpyeong Island

Posted on : 2010-01-29 13:30 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
S.Korean military officials say the firing was characteristic of a drill and is difficult to link to the incident that took place Wednesday
 captured Jan. 28.
captured Jan. 28.

The day after North Korea fired dozens of coastal artillery shells in the waters around the Northern Limit Line (NLL) near the West Sea islands of Baengnyeong and Daecheong, more coastal artillery was fired Thursday morning in the area of Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea.

A military official said Thursday that North Korea had frequently been engaging in artillery firing drills in its own territorial waters near Yeonpyeong Island prior to the incident. The official also said, “It could be normal training this time as well, but since there is also the possibility that this is a continuation of the firing that took place near Baengnyeong and Daecheong Islands yesterday, we are closely monitoring the movements of the North Korean military.” North Korea had previously declared two sites in the waters near the West Sea islands of Baengnyeong and Daecheong as “no-sail zones” for a period of five days from Jan. 25 to 29, but Yeonpyeong Island was not included in the zone.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff official said, “At about 8:10 Thursday morning, around 10 shots of cannon fire were heard on the North Korean side of the waters in front of Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, but no visible water column of the kind that appears when shells drop into the sea was seen near the Northern Limit Line.” The analysis of military officials is that the cannon fire Thursday could have been carried out in the direction of North Korean waters or land far away from the West Sea NLL. The official cited above also said, “Since North Korea fired in its own territory, it is not we are able to comment on.”

The attitude of military authorities stands in contrast to the day before, when they responded to North Korea’s firing of coastal artillery in the NLL waters near Baengnyeong and Daecheong Islands by issuing a message to North Korea calling the firing an “act of provocation” and calling on North Korea to immediately halt it. Unlike the incident on Wednesday, the military unit at the scene did not take measures such as a issuing a warning signal or warning shot to urge North Korea to halt its actions.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff official said, “We viewed the firing of artillery near Baengnyeong and Daecheong Islands as a major act of provocation showing disregard for the armistice agreement and non-aggression agreement between North Korea and South Korea, since North Korea included even our waters south of the Northern Limit Line in its ‘no-sail zone’ and firing zone.” The official added, “In contrast, this latest firing not only took place in a location that North Korea did not include in its ‘no-sail zones,’ but it was also in clearly North Korean waters, so it is a different situation.”

Military authorities have reportedly determined that Thursday’s firing was more likely to have been a normal training session than a provocation, given that it took place in North Korean waters and territory far away from the NLL. A military official said, “The North Korean military’s winter training period runs from Jan. 25 through late March, and there have been a number of instances in the past of cannon fire toward the sea and land that have taken place for the purpose of weapon system proficiency training.” The official added, “Based on what has been confirmed up to this point, there is no major discernible difference between last year’s training sessions and the cannon fire near Yeonpyeong Island that took place on Thursday.”

Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Won Tae-jae also noted that the area around Yeonpyeong Island was used for coastal artillery firing drills in the past and said, “It is difficult to make a connection between these routine drills with the cannon fire near Baengnyeong and Daecheong Islands on the 27th.”

Military officials have been able to issue cool responses because none of the shots fired by North Korea over the past two days have landed to the south of the NLL. If one of the North Korean shells were to cross the NLL, the military would engage in counterfire. The type of weapon, location of fire and number of rounds fired by the military determine the level of provocation from North Korea. If a North Korean shell crosses the NLL and lands in South Korean waters, there is the possibility of counterfire in the waters in front of the North Korean coastal artillery position. In addition, if the North Korea shell falls on an island like Yeonpyeong or Baengnyeong, there is the possibility of a direct attack on North Korean coastal artillery posts in North Korea’s Hwanghae Province.

A military official said, “Since North Korea announced its firing drills on the West Sea through the 29th, we are assuming that the cannon fire will continue, and we are closely watching the movements of the North Korean military.” Meanwhile, through close monitoring of the trends and movements of the North Korean military around the West Sea on Wednesday and Thursday using a wide variety of surveillance means, military officials have reportedly determined that the North Korean military fired a 240 mm rocket launcher with a firing range of 60km.

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