Threats, anti-sub drills highlight Korean tensions

SEOUL, South Korea - Military tension on the Korean peninsula rose yesterday after North Korea threatened to attack any South Korean ships entering its waters, and Seoul held anti-submarine drills in response to the March sinking of a navy vessel blamed on Pyongyang.

Separately, Gen. Walter Sharp, the chief U.S. military commander in South Korea, criticized the North over the sinking of the warship Cheo-nan in which 46 sailors died, telling the communist country to stop its aggressive actions.

North Korean reaction was swift. The military declared it would scrap accords with the South designed to prevent armed clashes at their maritime border, including the cutting of a military hotline, and warned of "prompt physical strikes" if any South Korean ships enter what the North says are its waters off the west coast of the peninsula.

A multinational team of investigators said May 20 that a North Korean torpedo sank the 1,200-ton ship. Seoul announced punitive measures, including slashing trade and resuming anti-Pyongyang propaganda over radio and loudspeakers aimed at the North. North Korea has denied attacking the ship.

"The facts and evidence laid out by the joint international investigation team are very compelling. That is why I have asked the Security Council to fulfill their responsibility to keep peace and stability . . . " UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at a conference in Brazil meant to help find solutions to global conflicts.

Inter-Korean political and economic ties have been steadily deteriorating since the February 2008 inauguration of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who vowed a tougher line on the North and its nuclear program.

Off the west coast, 10 South Korean warships, including a 3,500-ton destroyer, fired artillery and dropped anti-submarine bombs during a one-day exercise to boost readiness, the navy said. Two joint major military drills with the United States are planned by July.