Seoul: Heavier artillery used in Yeonpyeong attack

North Korea is confirmed to have used 122-millimeter multiple rocket launchers and 76.2-millimeter coastal artillery to shell South Korea’s front-line Yeonpyeong Island.

Military authorities in South Korea said Thursday that the North fired coastal guns from Mu Island about 10 kilometers north of Yeonpyeong and rocket launchers from the inland Gaemeori area.

An official at the Joints Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said the North fired some 150 shells from the Gaemeori and Mu areas for 12 minutes from 2:34 p.m. Tuesday. About 60 of them hit the island while the rest fell into waters off the coast.

Certain experts say that considering that North Korean coastal artillery units do not possess 122-millimeter launchers, the ones that pummeled Yeonpyeong could belong to an artillery brigade under the 4th Corps of the North Korean military.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his son and successor Kim Jong Un are said to have visited the brigade before the attack.

mhpark@donga.com