North Korea threatens South with retaliatory strike

North Korea today said today that if the drill goes ahead it would strike with stronger force than last month’s shelling of Yeonpyeong island which killed four people.

The announcement, on North Korean official news agency KCNA, came as South Korea readied for firing drills on the island near a disputed maritime border with the North for the first time since November’s exchange of artillery fire.

“The strike will play out a more serious situation than on 23 November in terms of the strength and scope of the strike,” KCNA said.

In response, Russia today summoned the ambassadors of South Korea and its US ally to express “extreme concern” over the planned military drills.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin met with the envoys and “insistently urged the Republic of Korea and the United States to refrain from conducting the planned firing,” the ministry said in a statement.

‘Drill will go ahead’

A leading South Korean defence analyst said he doubted the North would carry out its threat, which rattled financial markets, and South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the drill planned for 18-21 Dec would go ahead.

The North said its November shelling was a response to South Korean “provocations” after an artillery battery on the island fired in what Seoul said was a routine drill.

The shelling of the island was the first time since the Korean war that the North had attacked South Korean territory.

“They would have to be committing to a full-out war if they did that (struck again),” said Baek Seung-joo of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, an expert on North Korea’s military strategy.

“What’s likely is they will do something as a face-saving action, such as firing their own artillery near the disputed waters,” he said.