South Korea launched an anti-submarine drill off its west coast Thursday as part of its military responses to Pyongyang's sinking of a Seoul warship in March, while North Korea's military immediately hit back with a threat to scrap inter-Korean accords to prevent accidental naval clashes.
The North's latest threat ratcheted up already high tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of a multinational investigation last week that blamed Pyongyang for torpedoing the Cheonan patrol ship in the Yellow Sea border on March 26, killing 46 South Korean sailors.
"Bilateral agreements concluded to prevent accidental conflicts in the West Sea of Korea will be declared completely null and void" along the peninsula's tense western sea border, the North's general chiefs of staff said in a statement carried by its official news agency KCNA.
The North's military also warned it will make a "prompt physical strike" if the South's warships violate the North's waters in the Yellow Sea.
Earlier in the day, about 10 South Korean warships, including a 3,000-ton KDX-I destroyer and three patrol ships, started the one-day drill, but it was held away from the Yellow Sea border near where the Cheonan was torn in two by the North's torpedo attack in late March.
The naval exercise, including the testing of anti-submarine bombs and naval guns, took place off Taean, a central coastal town about 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul, according to military officials.
Earlier this week, the South announced a flurry of military, diplomatic and economic measures to punish the North for the sinking.
Military measures included a resumption of psychological warfare operations against the North and joint naval drills with the U.S. North Korean ships have also been banned from sailing through the South's waters.
North Korea, which has consistently denied its involvement in the sinking, has warned of a war in response to any punishment attempts.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. military commander in South Korea warned that North Korea should stop provocative actions and pledged to support the South's measures to punish the North for sinking the Cheonan.
"We call on North Korea to cease all acts of provocation and live up to terms of the past agreements including the armistice agreement," Army Gen. Walter Sharp said in his Memorial Day speech at the main U.S. military headquarters in Seoul.
Despite the North's denial, Sharp said the 46 South Korean sailors perished "in the defense of freedom" by an "unprecedented attack by North Korea."
South Korea and U.S. troops have also upgraded their alert system on the North, called Watch Condition, to the second-highest level since Pyongyang's second nuclear test in May last year.
The U.S. keeps some 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice agreement, not a peace treaty.//Yonhap
The North's latest threat ratcheted up already high tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of a multinational investigation last week that blamed Pyongyang for torpedoing the Cheonan patrol ship in the Yellow Sea border on March 26, killing 46 South Korean sailors.
"Bilateral agreements concluded to prevent accidental conflicts in the West Sea of Korea will be declared completely null and void" along the peninsula's tense western sea border, the North's general chiefs of staff said in a statement carried by its official news agency KCNA.
The North's military also warned it will make a "prompt physical strike" if the South's warships violate the North's waters in the Yellow Sea.
Earlier in the day, about 10 South Korean warships, including a 3,000-ton KDX-I destroyer and three patrol ships, started the one-day drill, but it was held away from the Yellow Sea border near where the Cheonan was torn in two by the North's torpedo attack in late March.
The naval exercise, including the testing of anti-submarine bombs and naval guns, took place off Taean, a central coastal town about 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul, according to military officials.
Earlier this week, the South announced a flurry of military, diplomatic and economic measures to punish the North for the sinking.
Military measures included a resumption of psychological warfare operations against the North and joint naval drills with the U.S. North Korean ships have also been banned from sailing through the South's waters.
North Korea, which has consistently denied its involvement in the sinking, has warned of a war in response to any punishment attempts.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. military commander in South Korea warned that North Korea should stop provocative actions and pledged to support the South's measures to punish the North for sinking the Cheonan.
"We call on North Korea to cease all acts of provocation and live up to terms of the past agreements including the armistice agreement," Army Gen. Walter Sharp said in his Memorial Day speech at the main U.S. military headquarters in Seoul.
Despite the North's denial, Sharp said the 46 South Korean sailors perished "in the defense of freedom" by an "unprecedented attack by North Korea."
South Korea and U.S. troops have also upgraded their alert system on the North, called Watch Condition, to the second-highest level since Pyongyang's second nuclear test in May last year.
The U.S. keeps some 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice agreement, not a peace treaty.//Yonhap
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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