S.Korean, U.S. Militaries on High Alert Ahead of Artillery Drill

South Korean and U.S. forces are standing by in emergency mode after wrapping up a plan Friday to deal with any further provocations by North Korea as an artillery drill on Yeonpyong Island looms.

South Korean F-15K fighter jets have been equipped with air-to-surface missiles with a range of 278 km as well as GPS-guided JDAM missiles guided capable of precision attacks on targets 24 km away. The aim is to deliver surgical strikes on North Korean artillery positions in caves along the country's west coast if they fire.

The F-15K fighter jets can carry 15 rounds of 225 kg JDAM (GBU-38) and seven rounds of 900 kg JDAM (GBU-31) missiles. U.S. military communications technicians apparently set up special equipment on Yeonpyong Island in case North Korea uses GPS jammers to throw the missiles off course.

Various South Korean warships including 4,500-ton destroyers, frigates and escort ships, P-3C surveillance planes, "Hyunmu" I and II missiles with a range of 180-300 km and U.S.-made ATACMS Block 1A surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 300 km have apparently also been placed on emergency stand-by.

KH-12 U.S. reconnaissance satellites that can identify objects to a resolution of 15 cm from hundreds of kilometers in the sky are passing over North Korea more frequently to monitor activities on the west coast. The U.S. Air Force's U-2 reconnaissance planes as well as South Korea's Geumgang and Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft are also flying over Yeonpyong Island, according to sources.

Some two dozen South Korean and U.S. troops including communications experts and medical personnel are believed to have been deployed on Yeonpyong Island to take part in the artillery drills that may start as early as Monday. Members of the Armistice Committee and UN Command representatives have also gone to Yeonpyong to check that the artillery drills are conducted according to the ceasefire agreement.

englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 20, 2010 09:17 KST

N.Korea Deploys Rocket Launchers Along West Coast

North Korea has deployed multiple rocket launchers along the shore north of Yeonpyeong, Baeknyeong and Gangwha islands in response to a planned South Korean artillery drill on Yeonpyeong, government sources here say. The North earlier threatened an "unpredicted self-defense counterattack" to the drills.

A South Korean government source said, "After making the threat in a message sent Friday, North Korea raised the alert level at artillery divisions on the west coast and deployed the multiple rocket launchers." The source added the South Korean military is monitoring the situation.

The North also reportedly made coastal artillery ready to fire and put some fighter jets on the west coast on standby.

englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 20, 2010 09:00 KST

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N.Korea Backtracks Over Yeonpyeong Drills

Having issued dire threats of "merciless retaliation" only this weekend, the North Korean military now says it was "not worth reacting" to a South Korean artillery drill on Yeonpyeong Island on Monday. The armed forces of the North "did not feel any need to retaliate against every despicable military provocation," the North Korean Army's Supreme Command said in a statement.

This implied that the North will not attack South Korean territory immediately as it did on Nov. 23, experts speculate. The reaction came about two hours and 30 minutes after the drill ended.

But the North Korean state-controlled media kept up the martial rhetoric, threatening to "annihilate the strongholds of the U.S. and South Korean warmongers."

Meanwhile, the North's official Rodong Sinmun said South Korea's plan to switch a floodlight tower overlooking the demilitarized zone back on as part of the resumption of psychological warfare "is a dangerous rash act that could ignite a fresh armed clash."

englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 21, 2010 07:49 KST

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Artillery Drill Ends Without New Clashes

There was widespread relief Monday when an artillery drill in the West Sea ended without the threatened retaliation from North Korea or any other noticeable rise in tensions. The military fired live rounds on Yeonpyeong Island for an hour and 34 minutes, but fears of another North Korean strike proved unfounded.

However, the military is staying on high alert for the time being, monitoring North Korea for signs of additional provocations after the North deployed multiple rocket launchers in areas on the west coast near Yeonpyeong Island and readying coastal artillery.

A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday said the maritime fire drill on Yeonpyeong Island started around 2:30 p.m. and came to a complete stop around 4:04 p.m., ending with a Vulcan gun firing."

The marine unit on the island fired about 1,600 rounds, including four rounds of K-9 self-propelled guns and 1,500 Vulcan gun shells.

A military source said, "We had difficulty because the sea fog didn't lift completely until the afternoon, but we went ahead with for fear of problems that might arise if we delayed any further."

An Air Force unit is on high alert in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province during an artillery drill on Yeonpyeong Island on Monday. In response to the South Korean drill, the North apparently deployed a battalion of 18 122-mm multiple rocket launchers in Kaemori north of Yeonpyeong as it did prior to its artillery attack on Nov. 23. It also reportedly set up several decoys near Baeknyeong and Yeonpyeong islands.

Some dozen warships including South Korea's first Aegis destroyer the 7,600-ton King Sejong the Great and two Korean-type 4,500-ton KDX-Ⅱ destroyers took part in waters south of the island. They were also ready to order a sortie of F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets to strike in case of a North Korean attack.

Support troops from the U.S. Forces Korea will reportedly stay there for the time being to watch the North Koreans movements.

After the drill ended, JCS Chairman Gen. Han Min-koo warned, the North "can attack at any time" and ordered all operations commands to "check preparedness for contingency plans so they can respond to any provocations no matter when and where they happen."

The North is closely watching a floodlight tower set up by the South Korean military across the demilitarized zone in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, apparently with an eye to shooting at it once it is switched on Wednesday.


englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 21, 2010 07:59 KST

kailan kaya matatapos itong mga kaguluhan dto sa korea...hindi cla magbigay gusto parehas magaling .....talaga tong korea sala sa init sala sa lamig

wag na sana cla magkagulo

kawawa ung mga mada2may

kawawa rin tau pag nagkagulo

hay e2 n nman po ang tension<<<
kelan kaya matatapos to??????

PASAWAY DIN ITONG MGA KANO..NAGKABOMBAHAN NA NGA..NANGUNGUNSINTI ATA PARA MABENTAHAN NG MGA MAKABAGONG ARMAS ANG SOUTH KOREA.

Panira ng pasko eh

sna matapos na pupunta pa nmn ako jan mlapit na release ng tourist visa ko eh..

mahal naming ama aming panginoon maraming slamat at hinipo po ninyo ng inyong mapagpalang kamay ang kaisipan ng North korea at hindi na po sila gumanti sa anumang drill na isinagawa ng South Korea alam po naming kayo po lamang ang may kapangyarihan upang ito'y matigil salamat po aming ama at hidni ninyo po kami pinabayaan kasama ang aming mga kababayan na nasa South Korea gayundin ang mga residente doon at ang mga kawawang residente rin ng North, alam po namin na hindi po ninyo pahihintulutan ito at alam po namin na walang imposible sa inyo aming panginoon .....maraming maraming salamat po sa inyo po ang kapurihan aming ama salamat po ang lahat ng papuri at pasasalamat ay ibinabalik namin sa inyo aming ama sa matamis na pangalan ng inyong anak at aming tagapagligtas Hesus Amen ......... papauri po sa inyo mahal naming ama at panginoon.