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SEOUL — North Korea fired more than 200 artillery rounds into the sea on Friday near a tensely defended maritime border with South Korea, a military official said, while residents of two South Korean islands were ordered to evacuate due to an unknown “situation.” The defense ministry would not confirm if the order was prompted by the North’s artillery firing or South Korean drills in response. However, a text message sent to residents and confirmed by an island official cited “naval fire” to be conducted by South Korean troops from 3 p.m.(0600 GMT) Friday. An official on Yeonpyeong island, which...

South Korea reiterated warnings to Pyongyang over future military attacks as South Korea commemorates the fatal 2010 sinking of the patrol ship Cheonan allegedly by North Korea. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said South Korea will "thoroughly retaliate against North Korea" if provoked again," a report by Yonhap news agency said. Last week Lee and Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik visited the National Cemetery in Daejeon to pay respects to the dead sailors. The 1,200-ton naval corvette Cheonan sank rapidly after an explosion from a suspected torpedo ripped the vessel in half in March 2010. It sank just more than 1...

Instead, the ministry aims to focus on the defense against North Korea, both in terms of the North’s so-called asymmetrical advantage in local provocations and full-scale warfare. This will likely scrap or delay initiatives to boost military capability against threats from neighboring powers and for futuristic high-tech warfare. They include building additional large warships and purchasing aerial refueling aircraft.

When Force Works By Michael Mazza Friday, January 7, 2011 The latest developments on the Korean peninsula suggest that Seoul’s new, more forceful posturing has been effective, and that the North is desperate for a reprieve from South Korean pressure. South Korea has finally succeeded in putting North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il back on his heels. The latest developments on the Korean peninsula suggest that Seoul’s new, more forceful posturing has been effective, and that the North is desperate for a reprieve from South Korean pressure. Pyongyang’s response to the December 20 South Korean live-fire artillery exercise on Yeonpyeong Island...

Seoul to deploy Israeli guided missiles on Yeonpyeong in Feb Attack copters to be stationed on the island By Jung Sung-ki South Korea’s military plans to deploy Israeli-built precision-guided anti-tank missiles to Yeonpyeong Island next month near the western sea border with North Korea, a government source said Tuesday. The deployment of the GPS-guided “Spike” missile is part of efforts to help achieve an early fortification of Yeonpyeong and four other islands near the border ― Northern Limit Line (NLL) ― vulnerable to North Korean provocations, the source told The Korea Times. In its year-end report to President Lee Myung-bak...

(LEAD) N. Korea skips mention of Russia's criticism on artillery attack SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Yonhap) -- Reporting on the foreign ministers' talks between Pyongyang and Moscow, North Korean media on Tuesday evaded a mention of the Russian side's criticism of the North's artillery attack on the South last month. In talks on Monday with his visiting North Korean counterpart, Pak Ui-chun, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the attack "deserves condemnation" and expressed deep concern over mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula, according to Moscow's foreign ministry. Russia has taken a critical stance toward the North's shelling of the...

These are tense times on the world stage. Drip-drips of classified information strain already dicey relations between the U.S. and its allies. Russian spies are caught red-handed and swapped for others. Iranians negotiating with anyone bent on the destruction of Israel. And yet, the current conflict and on-again, off-again talks with North Korea make one long for the simpler days of Cold War era diplomacy. A pattern is clearly forming with the North Koreans, and it does not favor peace-loving nations around the world, most notably the United States and South Korea. Last month's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island was just...

12-13-2010 18:48 'Yeonpyeong shelling causes inflation in Pyongyang' By Kim Young-jin North Korean merchants are exchanging their local currency en masse as war jitters in the wake of Pyongyang’s attack on Yeonpyeong Island have stoked fears that the money may lose its value in the case of war, a report said. According to North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS), a Seoul-based NGO comprised of defectors with lines into the North, currency exchange rates have skyrocketed since the Nov. 23 incident. One hundred Chinese yuan, which before the shelling went for 2,000 North Korean won (NKW), is now worth 35,000 won, NKIS...

'NK could target mainland next' By Kim Young-jin Future attacks by North Korea could target mainland South Korea, not a border island, a Japanese newspaper reported as the South remains on its highest alert after Pyongyang’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. Citing a source familiar with North Korea, the Tokyo Shimbun reported that a high-ranking military official in the North Korean army said late last month there would be an attack on Gyeonggi Province within the year. The report came amid concerns of another attack after the South and the United States held four days of joint naval drills. Seoul...

More firepower brought to island as rules change Armed forces to retaliate in way that ‘guarantees punishment’ of enemy December 01, 2010 In an effort to beef up national defense in the aftermath of the Yeonpyeong attack, the Ministry of National Defense said it will make extensive changes to its rules of engagement and will bring in stronger weaponry for islands along the west coast. The ministry submitted a report yesterday to the National Assembly in which it detailed its plans, focusing especially on the “principle of proportionality” to “guarantee punishment of the enemy.” Current regulations call for retaliating against...

The Air Force stands ready to respond if hostilities between North Korea and South Korea escalate, the service's top uniformed officer said, but American fighter jets remained at their normal alert status a day after a North Korean artillery attack. The North fired artillery shells at the island of Yeonpyeong on Tuesday, killing two people and dramatically raising tensions between American-allied South Korea and the nuclear-armed north. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, in a meeting with reporters later that morning, said his service has plenty of firepower in the region and listed the bases from which the...

"(URGENT) Explosion sounds of artillery fire heard on Yeonpyeong Island, official says"

The White House is strongly condemning North Korea's artillery attack against the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. In a statement released before dawn Tuesday, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs calls on North Korea to "halt its belligerent action." He says the United States is "firmly committed" to South Korea's defense, and to the "maintenance of regional peace and stability."

North Korea fired artillery barrages onto a South Korean island near their disputed border Tuesday, setting buildings alight and prompting South Korea to return fire and scramble fighter jets. At least one South Korean marine was killed and 13 wounded, the military said. The skirmish came amid high tension over North Korea's claim that it has a new uranium enrichment facility and just six weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il unveiled his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his heir apparent. One South Korean marine was killed, three were seriously wounded and 10 slightly wounded, a Joint Chiefs...

South Koreans return fire- scramble fighter jets Some houses in South Korea's Yeonpyeong Islandin the Yellow Sea are ablaze as scores of rounds of artillery,fired by North Korea at 2:34 p.m. on Nov. 23, hit the island.  As revelations of secret advances made in Pyongyang's ability to enrich uranium come to light, some have suggested arming the South with nuclear weaponry... looks like Dear Leader didn't care for that prospect much... North Korea on Tuesday fired dozens of rounds of artillery toward South Korean waters and an island near the tense west sea border, the South's military said, leaving at least...

(Reuters) - North Korea on Tuesday fired dozens of artillery shells at a South Korean island, setting buildings on fire and prompting a return fire by the South, Seoul's military and media reports said.

N. Korea fires artillery towards S. Korean island, official says SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Tuesday fired several rounds of artillery towards South Korean waters and an island near the tense west sea border, the South's military said. The North's artillery shells fell at 2:34 p.m. in the South's waters off the island of Yeonpyeong, some of them landing directly on the island, said Col. Lee Bung-woo, spokesman at the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The South's military responded with its artillery firing.

South Korea's military was on high alert Saturday after North Korea declared no-go zones near its disputed sea border with the South, sparking fears the reclusive state could begin firing weapons. "We've deployed anti-artillery firefinder radar systems in Baengnyeong island and Yeonpyeong islands," a Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman told AFP. "However, there is no unusual military activity detected in the North," he said. Yonhap news agency said the South had also stepped up air and naval surveillance along the inter-Korean border. As of late Friday, the North has declared a total of eight no-sail zones: four in the Yellow...

South Korea said Friday it had deployed advanced weapons-tracking radar systems on islands near its disputed Yellow Sea border with North Korea following last week's artillery barrages by the North. Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young told lawmakers the AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder systems had been set up on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands. "A few days ago, deployment of anti-artillery radar systems was completed," the minister was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. The system is designed to determine where incoming artillery and rocket fire originated, to allow for a possible counter-attack. After declaring two "no sail" zones, the communist state last week...

(LEAD) N. Korea restarts artillery firing near western sea border: official SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Thursday resumed firing artillery shells toward a South Korean island near the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea, a defense official in Seoul said. North Korea began to shoot toward the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong from 8:15 a.m., with all the shells landing in the North's own waters north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the Seoul official said, requesting anonymity as he was unauthorized to speak to media.