Seoul: North Korea, under pressure to return to disarmament talks, is planning live-fire exercises off near sea borders with the South, a South Korean agency on Friday, a move that will raise tension on the troubled peninsula.
North Korea is apparently using military threats against US ally South Korea to help strengthen its hand to win concessions from regional powers as it appears ready to return to six-party talks on ending its nuclear arms program.
Last month, the two Koreas briefly exchanged artillery fire near a disputed sea border, which resulted in no injuries or damage but prompted brief and temporary dips in Seoul stock markets and the South Korean won.
North Korea said it would be firing from four spots on its west coast and two on its east coast from Saturday through Monday and declared them no-sail zones, the South`s Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Administration said on its Internet site.
After the exchange of fire with the South in late January, the North fired hundreds of shells toward a disputed sea border with the South over the next several days.
The additional firings did not impact markets as investors have grown used to small-scale military grandstanding by the mercurial North.
North Korea has boycotted for about a year six-country talks on ending its nuclear arms program in exchange for massive aid to prop up its wobbly economy and an end to its international ostracism.
The hermit state has come under pressure to return to the talks due to UN sanctions imposed after a May 2009 nuclear test and a botched currency move that nearly halted commerce late last year and worsened its economic woes.
Bureau Report
