Seoul: North Korea fired more than 80 shells
near its disputed sea border with South Korea on Wednesday, officials
said, sparking an artillery exchange which fuelled tensions on
the peninsula.
The communist state's land batteries lobbed into the sea
about 30 shells in the morning and more than 50 in the
afternoon, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Ignoring a strong protest from the South, the North said
it had every right to carry out an annual live fire drill and
would continue the exercise. A day earlier it had declared two
"no sail" zones in the area.
The morning barrage lasted more than one hour, Seoul
officials said, and South Korean Marines stationed on a nearby
island responded with about 100 warning cannon shots. There
were no casualties.
The South did not respond to the afternoon's salvo, which
again landed on the North Korean side of the contested sea
border.
Analysts said the drill was partly aimed at highlighting
Pyongyang's demand for talks with the United States on a
formal peace treaty to end the 1950-53 war before it returns
to nuclear disarmament talks.
They said an escalation was unlikely but not impossible
on the border, the scene of deadly naval battles in 1999 and
2002. In the latest clash, last November, a firefight left a
North Korean patrol boat in flames.
A Joint Chiefs spokesman said they had information the
drill would continue through Friday.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 20:39