Korean Peninsula On The Brink Of War

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Steve Herman from Twitter:

1. #ROK defense ministry: Artillery exercise could begin as soon as one hour from now. #Koreas 6 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
2. #ROK military says artillery drill on Yeonpyeong Is. to go ahead this afternoon. 13 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

[BRVoice]

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/as...ex.html?hpt=T1


South Korea says exercises to start Monday
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 19, 2010 -- Updated 2348 GMT (0748 HKT)

(CNN) -- South Korea's planned live-fire military exercises in the Yellow Sea will begin Monday despite threats from North Korea that the drills will result in "disaster," the South Korean military announced.

The drills are slated to take place off Yeonpyeong Island, which North Korean forces shelled in November. North Korea said over the weekend that the planned exercises were a "sinister design" to violate the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953 and "ignite war at any cost."

At the United Nations, diplomats were huddled in an emergency meeting of the Security Council in an attempt to defuse the standoff over the planned exercises. But seven hours of ongoing talks had produced no result Sunday evening.

Russia requested the emergency meeting and proposed a draft statement, proposing amendments which Western nations said would place more of the blame on North Korea, diplomats said. But they said the major holdout was China, the North's closest ally, which refuses to agree on any statement that even mentions the Yeonpyeong shelling.

Russia and China, both permanent Security Council members, have asked South Korea to reconsider its planned drills. Sunday's closed-door session was held with representatives of both North and South Korea present and speaking.

Earlier, a South Korean military official told the country's state-run Yonhap news agency that Seoul would not be deterred by threats from the North.

"The planned firing drill is part of the usual exercises conducted by our troops based on Yeonpyeong Island. The drill can be justifiable, as it will occur within our territorial waters," the official said.

Tensions between the two Koreas have been high since the North fired upon the island last month, killing two marines and two civilians. The South Korean military had said Thursday that the exercises would take place in the seas southwest of the island between December 18 and 21, but adverse weather forced a delay Saturday.

"We won't take into consideration North Korean threats and diplomatic situations before holding the live-fire drill. If weather permits, it will be held as scheduled," the military official said.

Meanwhile, North Korea was beefing up its military forces on its west coast ahead of the South's planned drills, Yonhap reported, citing a South Korean government official.

"The North Korean artillery unit along the Yellow Sea has raised its preparedness level," the source said.

Yeonpyeong is located in the Yellow Sea, just south of the Northern Limit Line -- the maritime boundary drawn in 1953 by the United Nations just after the Korean War. The line is three nautical miles from the North Korean coast.

In the absence of a full peace agreement between the two Koreas, the Northern Limit Line remains in place. North Korea has suggested an alternative line, but South Korea has resisted, as it would bring the North's maritime boundary close to Incheon, a main port.

A North Korean spokesman over the weekend said that the planned military exercises were a "sinister design" to violate the Korea Armistice Agreement and "ignite war at any cost."

"The shelling to be perpetrated by the puppet forces of south Korea at last, trespassing on the prohibiting line would make it impossible to prevent the situation on the Korean Peninsula from exploding and escape its ensuing disaster," the spokesman said, according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea blamed the United States for allegedly egging on the South Koreans.

North Korea "will force the U.S. to pay dearly for all the worst situations prevailing on the peninsula and its ensuing consequences," the spokesman said.


CNN's Jiyeon Lee in Seoul and Richard Roth and Whitney Hurst at the United Nations contributed to this report.

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/egalite_twitted


Sam Kim (egalite_twitted)

Moment of test for SKorean gov't, not NKorea. Does Seoul know P'yang enough to bet NKorea won't retaliate? Koreans watching, hoping it does. 9 minutes ago via web

[AGEUSAF]

http://veetle.com/index.php/channel/view#4cf2f67d0ef30

live feed of foxnews. Hope thats ok to put up.

[BRVoice]

http://veetle.com/index.php/channel/view#4cf2f67d0ef30

live feed of foxnews. Hope thats ok to put up.

Thanks AGEUSAF

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/egalite_twitted


Evacuation begins on Y'pyeong: Yonhap 5 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Steve Herman from Twitter:



EnglishChosun N.Korea Deploys Rocket Launchers Along West Coast http://bit.ly/hyqdVJ 15 minutes ago via twitterfeed Retweeted by W7VOA and 9 others

[BRVoice]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/...122000375.html


North Korea Deploys Rocket Launchers Along West Coast

North Korea has deployed multiple rocket launchers along the shore north of Yeonpyeong, Baeknyeong and Gangwha islands in response to a planned South Korean artillery drill on Yeonpyeong, government sources here say. The North earlier threatened an "unpredicted self-defense counterattack" to the drills.

A South Korean government source said, "After making the threat in a message sent Friday, North Korea raised the alert level at artillery divisions on the west coast and deployed the multiple rocket launchers." The source added the South Korean military is monitoring the situation.

The North also reportedly made coastal artillery ready to fire and put some fighter jets on the west coast on standby.

englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 20, 2010 09:00 KST

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Steve Herman from Twitter:

1. The #ROK military announcement puts #UNSC under intense pressure. #Koreas 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck
2. Most likely window for the #ROK artillery drill is between 90 minutes and 2.5 hours from now. #Koreas 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck
3. YTN: Residents on #ROK western islands told to move into bunkers. #Koreas 8 minutes ago via TweetDeck
4. Russia again calls on #ROK not to hold artillery drill. #Koreas 8 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[BRVoice]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news...001800320.HTML

Seoul stocks open lower ahead of shooting drill

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Monday as Seoul's planned live-fire exercise was feared to escalate geopolitical tensions, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 21.77 points, or 1.07 percent, to trade at 2,004.53 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

[American Patriot]

Live feeds? OMG YES! lol

t
hanks

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Steve Herman on Twitter:

AFP photog: Civilians on Yeonpyeong told to take shelter within 30 mins. #Koreas half a minute ago via TweetDeck

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Steve Herman on Twitter:

1. Amb. Rice does not mention #China by name. #Koreas 1 minute ago via TweetDeck
2. Amb. Rice: Unlikely that the gap among #UNSC members will be bridged. #Koreas 1 minute ago via TweetDeck
3. Amb. Rice at #UN: #ROK well within its rights, justification to conduct artillery drill. #Koreas 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck
4. Amb. Rice at #UN: #DPRK has no right to threaten, attack to attack another UN member during routine military exercises. #Koreas 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck
5. US Amb. to #UN Rice: Most SC members made clear their view to condemn #DPRK Nov. 23 attack but did not achieve consensus. #Koreas 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Steve Herman from Twitter:

All calm in Seoul on a foggy cold morning. Most likely unaware of military announcement to begin artillery drill soon. #Koreas 6 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[American Patriot]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Steve Herman from Twitter:

All calm in Seoul on a foggy cold morning. Most likely unaware of military announcement to begin artillery drill soon. #Koreas 6 minutes ago via TweetDeck

most likely.....

[BRVoice]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/...122000453.html

S.Korean, U.S. Militaries on High Alert Ahead of Artillery Drill

The Chosun Ilbo - December 20, 2010

South Korean and U.S. forces are standing by in emergency mode after wrapping up a plan Friday to deal with any further provocations by North Korea as an artillery drill on Yeonpyong Island looms.

South Korean F-15K fighter jets have been equipped with air-to-surface missiles with a range of 278 km as well as GPS-guided JDAM missiles guided capable of precision attacks on targets 24 km away. The aim is to deliver surgical strikes on North Korean artillery positions in caves along the country's west coast if they fire.

The F-15K fighter jets can carry 15 rounds of 225 kg JDAM (GBU-38) and seven rounds of 900 kg JDAM (GBU-31) missiles. U.S. military communications technicians apparently set up special equipment on Yeonpyong Island in case North Korea uses GPS jammers to throw the missiles off course.

Various South Korean warships including 4,500-ton destroyers, frigates and escort ships, P-3C surveillance planes, "Hyunmu" I and II missiles with a range of 180-300 km and U.S.-made ATACMS Block 1A surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 300 km have apparently also been placed on emergency stand-by.

KH-12 U.S. reconnaissance satellites that can identify objects to a resolution of 15 cm from hundreds of kilometers in the sky are passing over North Korea more frequently to monitor activities on the west coast. The U.S. Air Force's U-2 reconnaissance planes as well as South Korea's Geumgang and Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft are also flying over Yeonpyong Island, according to sources.

Some two dozen South Korean and U.S. troops including communications experts and medical personnel are believed to have been deployed on Yeonpyong Island to take part in the artillery drills that may start as early as Monday. Members of the Armistice Committee and UN Command representatives have also gone to Yeonpyong to check that the artillery drills are conducted according to the ceasefire agreement.

englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 20, 2010 09:17 KST

[BRVoice]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news...002400315.HTML


Yellow Sea border islanders ordered into air raid shelters

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) -- Residents on the Yellow Sea island of Yeonpyeong were ordered Monday to evacuate to nearby air raid shelters, as South Korea's military is poised to hold a live-fire drill in waters off the border island devastated by North Korea's artillery last month, officials said.

The evacuation order came shortly after South Korea's military announced a plan to go ahead with a one-day live-fire drill off Yeonpyeong Island Monday, despite the North's repeated warnings of an "unpredictable" counterstrike.

[BRVoice]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news...02100315F.HTML


(2nd LD) S. Korean military says Yellow Sea firing drill to be conducted Monday

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) - South Korea's military plans to hold a live-fire exercise later Monday from a border island shelled by North Korea last month, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, sending tensions soaring amid Pyongyang's threats to strike back if the drill goes ahead.

The communist nation has warned that it would respond to the South's artillery drill on Yeonpyeong Island with "unpredictable self-defensive blows," sparking fears of a recurrence of last month's deadly clash in which the North bombarded the Yellow Sea island.

The shelling devastated the fishing village, killing four people, including two civilians.

"The military has decided to conduct the firing drill today (Monday)," said a JCS official, adding the exercise will be held south of the inter-Korean maritime border. "The exact time for the firing drill will depend on the weather conditions around the island area."

Sources said the drill is likely to be held between 11 a.m. and noon.

Officials said they were broadcasting warnings that those staying on the island take refuge. About 280 people, including residents, reporters and government officials, are staying on the island near the Yellow Sea border between the two sides, officials said.

"This exercise is a routine and legitimate one that we have regularly held from a long time ago to defend the northwestern islands," a JCS official said on condition of anonymity. "Representatives from the Armistice Commission and the United Nations Command plan to watch the drill."

South Korea is watching the North's military moves closely while maintaining full preparedness to respond to possible North Korean provocations, the official said, pledging to give an "immediate and strong" response in case of provocations.

The exercise is designed to have artillery shells land in waters more than 10 kilometers away from the maritime border, a military official said, stressing that the maneuvers are not meant to provoke North Korea. Vulcan guns and 105-millimeter light howitzers would be mobilized for the drill, officials said.

North Korea has deployed fake artillery guns on its west coast in a move seen as aimed at confusing targets in a possible clash, a government source said. The fake guns were shaped like 120- and 140-millimeter artillery guns, the source said.

China and Russia have urged both Koreas to exercise restraint, expressing concern that the drill could escalate into a bigger conflict. China has summoned the ambassadors from the two Koreas in Beijing to file such concern while Russia issued a statement urging Seoul to call off the exercise plans.

The U.S. has backed South Korea, saying the Asian ally has the right to hold such an exercise.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council convened an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the tensions. A Russian-proposed draft statement urged all parties concerned to "exercise maximum restraint" and called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send an envoy to Seoul and Pyongyang for a "resumption of dialogue and resolution of all problems dividing them exclusively through peaceful diplomatic means."

But the session ended without any statement.

The two Koreas are still technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to deter threats from North Korea.

The Yellow Sea border has been the constant source of tension between the two sides as North Korea refuses to recognize the boundary drawn by the U.N. at the end of the Korean War. Pyongyang claims the line should be redrawn further south, but the South has rejected the demand, saying the North should first respect the boundary.



South Korean marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island on Dec. 20 amid rising tensions over a planned live-fire drill. (Yonhap)

[BRVoice]

This thing about put fake artillery guns on its West Coast is a VERY BAD SIGN

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Steve Herman from Twitter:

Anxiety over war fears sends most share prices lower in Monday morning trading in Seoul. #Koreas 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck