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 N.Korea vows to strike back if S.Korea holds live-fire drillSeoul (AFP) Dec 17, 2010 - North Korea's military threatened Friday to strike back if South Korea goes ahead with a planned live-fire drill on a border island which the communist state shelled last month. "Second and third self-defensive blows that cannot be predicted will be dealt" if the South holds the one-day drill scheduled between Saturday and Tuesday, the North's military said. "The intensity and range of the firepower will be more serious than on November 23," it said in a statement carried on the official KCNA news agency. The bombardment of Yeonpyeong island last month killed two marines and two civilians, injured 18 people and damaged dozens of homes. KCNA said the warning was delivered earlier Friday to the South. The South's military has said its artillery will be aimed away from the North as usual during the upcoming drill, but it will respond strongly if provoked. Members of the US-led United Nations Command are scheduled to observe the drill and about 20 US soldiers will play a supporting role. There was no immediate comment from the South's military on the warning. Yeonpyeong is just south of the Yellow Sea border drawn by United Nations forces after the 1950-53 war, which the North refuses to recognise. It claims the seas around the island as its own maritime territory. A firing drill into the Yellow Sea by South Korean marines based on the island on November 23 was answered by the North's deadly bombardment. "The area they have set for the Yeonpyeong island exercise is our sea territory that cannot be touched by anyone," the North's military said. China to lease N.Korean islands for free trade zone: reportTokyo (AFP) Dec 17, 2010 - China is planning to lease two North Korean river islands on its border with the isolated country to set up free trade zones and tourism, Japan's Asahi Daily reported Friday. China plans to build factories to make beverages and other products, while North Korea would vacate the islands on the Yalu River and relocate the 1,000 households there, but would then provide workers for the factories, it said. China plans to kick off the project in May after it acquired the rights to use the land for 50 years and continued with talks to extend the lease period to 100 years, the newspaper said, citing unnamed Chinese sources. One of the islands, which Chinese call Huangjinping, is about 11 square kilometres (4.2 square miles) and is separated by a narrow waterway from the jurisdiction of the Chinese city of Dandong in Liaoning province. The other island, about 12 square kilometres in size and further north, is called Heihua in Chinese. They are located in the Yalu River, also known as the Amnok River, the English-language Asahi Daily said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il apparently discussed the island development plan with Chinese leaders when he visited China earlier this year. While Beijing regards the project as a form of economic aid to Pyongyang, Chinese businesses expect to reap huge benefits from making use of cheap North Korean labour, the Japanese newspaper reported. |
"It will be deadlier than what was made on November 23 in terms of the powerfulness and sphere of the strike," said the military statement carried on the North's official news agency.
The bombardment of Yeonpyeong island last month killed two marines and two civilians, injured 18 people and damaged dozens of homes, and came after a firing drill into the sea by South Korean marines based on the island.
The latest warning sharply raised the stakes in the regional crisis, amid diplomatic moves to ease tensions. The news agency said the military's message was delivered earlier Friday to the South.
The South, outraged at the first shelling of civilian areas since the 1950-53 war, has fortified Yeonpyeong with more troops and artillery and vowed to use air power against any future attack.
Its military has said artillery will be aimed away from the North as usual during the upcoming drill, but it will respond strongly if provoked.
Members of the US-led United Nations Command are scheduled to observe the drill and about 20 US soldiers will play a supporting role.
But a top US general Thursday voiced concern over a possible "chain reaction".
General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the drill was being held on a "well-established and well-used" range in a transparent way, but could draw a North Korean reaction.
"What we worry about obviously is... if North Korea were to react to that in a negative way and fire back at those firing positions on the islands, that would start potentially a chain reaction," Cartwright told reporters.
"What you don't want to have happen out of that is for... us to lose control of the escalation."
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