N.K. threatens military action against Seoul

North Korea yesterday threatened that the South would "pay a huge price" for the latest battle in the West Sea, adding that it would undertake "merciless military measures" to defend its self-proclaimed maritime border.

In its message sent to South Korea, Pyongyang also said the naval skirmish was "an intentional and outright military provocation" triggered by Seoul.

The navies of the two Koreas engaged in a two-minute battle on Tuesday after a North Korean patrol boat violated Northern Limit Line.

One North Korean soldier was reportedly killed, while three others were injured. The South suffered no casualties.



The NLL is the de facto inter-Korean sea border. The North refuses to acknowledge as it was unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command when the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce.

"It is a shameless political provocation to insist on useless military attempts to keep the illegal `Northern Limit Line` despite the changes in the times," said the message attributed to Kim Young-cheol, a North Korean lieutenant general who represents Pyongyang`s delegation to inter-Korean general-level military talks.

"In a reminder that there only exists the maritime demarcation line drawn by us in Korea`s western sea, our merciless military actions will be taken to protect it from this moment on," Kim warned.

Two other naval clashes between the two Koreas took place in 1999 and 2002. South Korea suffered casualties in the latter battle. The North`s damages, however, were bigger.

The latest threat from the North comes as U.S. President Barack Obama has just begun his first Asia trip that ends in South Korea next week.

North Korea`s nuclear program is high on the agenda, especially since Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy, is expected to travel to North Korea by the year`s end for rare bilateral negotiations on the nuclear dispute.

North Korea has claimed innocence for Tuesday`s clash, saying South Korea`s hardline military initiated the premeditated clash to thwart the mood for dialogue in the region. The North Korean patrol boat was on routine duty when the gunfire erupted from the South, it claimed.

(jemmie@heraldm.com)



By Kim Ji-hyun and news reports