Asia-Pacific

N Korea warns South of shelling island if it holds drill


North Korea has warned that it will bombard the border island of Yeonpyeong for the second time if Seoul stages a planned military drill there.

The warning came after South Korea announced that it will hold a military drill on Yeonpyeong Island on Friday to mark the 2010 shelling of the island by the North.

“The commemoration of the so-called victorious battle on Yeonpyeong Island will lead to the second Yeonpyeong Island disaster,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted a North Korean Army spokesman as saying on Wednesday.

“World history knows no precedent of commemorating a defeated battle. The projected ridiculous farce only invites derision and censure from people… Their scenario is to spark off a new war in the area,” the spokesman added.

The Yeonpyeong Island, located in the Yellow Sea, has long been a flash point between Seoul and Pyongyang.

Four South Koreans were killed in shelling of the island in November 2010.

On March 2, 2010, the 1,200-ton South Korean Cheonan warship sank near the inter-Korea maritime border. The tragic incident led to the deaths of 46 South Korean sailors.

Seoul accuses Pyongyang of involvement in the sinking of its warship. Pyongyang, however, says aluminum alloy fragments recovered by South Korea prove that no North Korean torpedo was involved in the maritime accident.

South Korea is still technically at war with the North since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Almost half a million South Koreans were killed as a result of the Korean War. North Korea suffered 290,000 casualties in the conflict, according to data from official Chinese sources.

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