Seoul launches military exercises in the Yellow Sea. The threat of Pyongyang
Seoul (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - South Korea went
ahead with military exercises this morning along the sea border with North Korea, despite threats of retaliation from
Pyongyang.
The
exercises lasted several hours and so far there has been no reaction from the
North. The
zone is an area of the Yellow Sea near the island of Yeonpyeong,
which in November 2010 was attacked North Korean artillery, killing four
people, two soldiers and two civilians.
Before
beginning the exercises, Pyongyang
made some threats, saying it would launch a punishment "100 times more
powerful" than the bombing of 2010. A
statement from the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, reported
by the North Korean government agency, says that Pyongyang
is ready for "total war" and that the exercises will lead to
"total failure" of relations between the two Koreas.
Seoul is carefully studying the reactions of North Korea, after the death of
"dear leader" Kim Jong-il, on 17 December, and the seizure of power
by his son Kim Jong-un.
Next
week, representatives of the North and the United
States will meet in Beijing
to discuss Pyongyang's
nuclear weapons program. This
week, however, Seoul and the U.S. are due to
hold submarine exercises, but in an area far from the border. To
date, almost 30 thousand American troops are stationed in South Korea as
a deterrent against the North which, officially, is still at war.
The
ties between the two Koreas
have been tense since the South has blocked economic aid to the North, which in
turn did nothing to stop its nuclear program.
In
2010 there was the bombing of the island
of Yeonpyeong and months
before the sinking of the Cheonan, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. Seoul
accuses Pyongyang
of the two incidents, but it denies any liability. Local
AsiaNews sources say the two
operations were led by Kim Jong-un, in his race for supreme power.
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12/02/2016 15:14
24/08/2016 09:42
