Agence France-Presse First Posted 10:09:00 06/02/2009
Filed Under: Politics, Foreign affairs & international relations, Nuclear Policies
SEOUL—(UPDATE2) South Korea deployed a high-speed patrol boat armed with guided missiles close to the volatile maritime border with North Korea on Tuesday as tensions simmered in the wake of Pyongyang's nuclear test.
The move follows reports that the North has stepped up military drills in the area after threatening a military strike on the South and is preparing to test-fire a long-range missile.
The South Korean Navy said it was sending the Yoon Young-ha patrol vessel, equipped with ship-to-ship missiles, to the northwestern border area in the Yellow Sea, the scene of past deadly skirmishes between the two Koreas.
"Compared with North Korean boats, the Yoon Young-ha is armed with overwhelming fire power," a naval spokesman told reporters.
The South Korean navy will "punish immediately" any North Korean forces attempting provocative acts in the area, he said.
North Korea's military has reportedly been using high-speed boats for landing exercises near the western border -- twice the site of naval clashes since 1999.
In the most recent, in 2002, six South Korean sailors died and 18 others were wounded while more than 30 North Koreans were killed or injured. North Korea wants the border to be drawn further south.
Tensions have been running high since Kim Jong-Il's regime tested a nuclear bomb for the second time on May 25 and then launched a series of short-range missiles and renounced the truce that ended the Korean war in 1953.
South Korean and US forces on the peninsula are on heightened alert after the North threatened a possible attack in response to Seoul's decision to join a US-led initiative to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
The North has warned of "self-defense measures" in response...
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The ROKN/South Korean Navy makes a notable move during all this tension.
