DPRK artillery fired near sea border

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea fired artillery shells on Monday into its eastern waters from a region just north of the military demarcation line, a Republic of Korea military official said.

The official told Xinhua on the phone that the DPRK launched artillery shells from the region several hundreds of meters north of the Demilitarized Zone in Goseong, a border town about 220 kilometers northeast of Seoul.

The shells, which were fired at 11:53 am local time toward its northeastern waters, landed in waters 1 to 8 km north of the Northern Limit Line, the disputed sea boundary in the East Sea.

ROK's Yonhap News Agency reported earlier that about 100 rounds were launched, but the official said how many were fired had yet to be confirmed, noting the military strengthened defense readiness against additional firings.

The shells were believed to be fired from 122 mm multiple-rocket launchers as part of the DPRK's firing exercise.

The ROK's Defense Ministry issued a statement on Monday that called the latest launches by the DPRK a provocation that raises the question about how sincere it is about its recent overture. The statement said the ROK will relentlessly retaliate if DPRK-fired projectiles fall in its waters.

"Today's exercise was seen as a show of force toward our side," an ROK defense ministry spokesman said.

It was the DPRK's 15th launch of missiles or artillery shells this year. The DPRK has launched more than 90 short-and medium-range missiles and shells since Feb 21.

Pyongyang recently escalated tensions on the Korean Peninsula by firing missiles and shells five times in less than three weeks.

On Sunday, the DPRK launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the eastern waters from its southern border city of Kaesong. The missiles flew about 500 km.

The DPRK also fired two short-range missiles, which were presumed to be Scuds, from a site in Hwanghae province in a northeasterly direction into its eastern waters on July 9.

The DPRK launched two Scud missiles, which flew 500 km, into its east waters on June 29 after firing three KN-09 shells with a range of 190 km on June 26.

An ROK government source was quoted by local media as saying that the ROK and the United States will raise the issue of the DPRK's recent missile launches with the UN Security Council.

The launches came ahead of a joint maritime exercise that will involve the US aircraft carrier USS George Washington and ROK battle-ships in southern and south-western waters off the Korean Peninsula from July 16 to July 21.

After the six-day drill, the ROK, the US and Japan will hold a joint naval exercise, called Search and Rescue Exercise, or SAREX, on July 21 and 22 in international waters south of ROK's southern resort island of Jeju.

The exercise will mobilize the USS George Washington, three ships and an aircraft form the US, two ships and an aircraft from the ROK, and a ship and an aircraft from Japan.

"The North is showing a two-faced attitude," ROK President Park Geunhye said in a meeting with her advisers on Monday..

Park noted that Pyongyang had kept up the missile tests even while setting up talks with the ROK on sending athletes to the upcoming Asian Games in the ROK port city of Incheon.

On Monday, the ROK and the DPRK agreed to hold working-level talks on Thursday about the latter's participation in the Asian Games to be held in the port city of Incheon from Sept 19 to Oct 4.

Xinhua - AP - AFP

(China Daily 07/15/2014 page11)