N. Korea Exposes Artillery System at Frontline

South Korea is on high alert as the North Korean military has exposed part of its combat capability such as rocket and coastal artillery at its bases near the Military Demarcation Line and the maritime borderline in the Yellow Sea.

Military sources in Seoul said yesterday that intelligence spotted a raft of 240mm rocket artillery at the North’s frontline tunnel bases.

The North Korean military has positioned a slew of 170mm self-propelled and 240mm rocket artillery with a range of 50 to 65 kilometers at mountainous areas near the border with South Korea. Of them, 350 pieces can strike Seoul.

The 240mm rocket artillery is particularly dangerous. Mounted on a military truck, it has 20 rocket launchers. One round of attack can reduce an area 300 meters wide and 900 meters long to rubble.

The communist country has expanded the number of coastal artillery drills at bases in Haeju and the Ongjin Peninsula off the west coast.

“We have frequently spotted the North’s coastal artillery though they have to be concealed,” said a Seoul military official. “We have temporarily concluded that this is the North’s effort to maintain combat preparedness.”

Other experts, however, said this unusual move is related to the North’s alleged preparation for a test-launch of its long-range Taepodong 2 missile and the sudden disappearance of Chinese fishing vessels in the Yellow Sea. Pyongyang intends to increase inter-Korean tension by deliberately expose its combat capability in forward areas, they said.

ysh1005@donga.com