S. Korean military beefs up border vigilance against N. Korea(NK assumes strike posture)

Korea Herald ^ | 10/12/11

[TigerLikesRooster]

S. Korean military beefs up border vigilance against N. Korea

2011-10-12 21:45

South Korea's military has stepped up its combat readiness after detecting unusual military movement by North Korea's armed forces along the tense western sea border, Seoul officials said Wednesday.

Seoul recently discovered that the North's military had relocated a ground-to-air missile to north of the South's northernmost island of Baengnyeong. In addition, Pyongyang has moved the missile's movable launching pad to a missile base near the western sea border, a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.


South Korean soldiers take part in a military drill on the beach in Malipo, north
western South Korea, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. (AP-Yonhap News)

"We discovered that North Korea's army has recently moved its fighters from the rear to a base near the Northern Limit Line (NLL)," the official said, adding that several missiles were fired off the western and eastern coasts recently.

The official noted that the military movement is similar to the situation shortly before the North shelled the front-line island of Yeonpyeong in November last year, a surprise attack that killed two South Korean Marines and two South Korean civilians.

Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong are located just south of the NLL, a de facto maritime border between the Koreas, and the waters around them have seen deadly naval skirmishes and armed provocations by North Korea.

In response to such activities, the Joint Chiefs of Staff has strengthened monitoring of the tense sea border and elevated the level of military preparedness of the Army, Navy and Air Force, officials said.

The move is in line with President Lee Myung-bak's order to maintain strong vigilance against the communist state while he is out of the country for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama along with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin. Lee left on Tuesday and is scheduled to return home on Sunday.

North Korea's latest military movement coincides with Pyongyang's threat of retaliation against propaganda leaflets sent by South Korea's conservative civic groups.

Just a day before the 66th anniversary of the ruling Workers'

Party, the North's state-run media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), on Sunday reported that the North's army is "ready to destroy the citadels of psychological warfare."

On Saturday, the head of the North Korean delegation to the inter-Korean military talks sent a warning to Seoul, saying it would take physical action against the South's "ceaseless provocative war moves."

Two Koreas remain technically in a state of war because the

1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, rather than a peace treaty.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[maquiladora]

NK attention seeking posturing. Groundhog Day.

Nothing will happen.

[brownsfan]

South Korea used to have the luxury of hating America, all the while knowing we have her back in a war with North Korea.

Obama has changed the calculus. South Korea can surely continue to hate us, but as for us having their back... I’m not so sure.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Well, maybe there would be no action. On the other hand, they do provocations at certain intervals. Enough time has passed since their last attack, which means their new attacks are due. Especially both SK and U.S. have been uncooperative so far, that is, they refused to give NK free goodies.

I think hard-line military brass are getting impatient. It remains to be seen if their can restrain their urge to lash out. It is true that they have become more belligerent than in the past. Deteriorating situations both inside and outside the country raises the anxiety of the regime, which leads to more belligerent faction in control of decision-making, a kind of damn-the-torpedoes types.

[RitchieAprile]

SK military still use ‘reckless rifles’? neat!

[RitchieAprile]

SK military still use ‘reckless rifles’? neat!

[norton]

I think hard-line military brass are getting impatient. (snip) Deteriorating situations both inside and outside the country raises the anxiety of the regime, which leads to more belligerent faction in control of decision-making, a kind of damn-the-torpedoes types.

Or, maybe the military has read enough history to have decided it's better to be beaten quickly by the US & ROK than to continue to rot under their present system and face even greater Chinese domination.