Seoul, August 03: Tensions between North and South Korea are boiling over as Pyongyang vows to retaliate against Seoul over its planned naval drills near a disputed sea border.
North Korea’s military said on Tuesday it would mount a “physical counterattack” in response to South Korea’s naval exercises, slated to begin on Thursday this week off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast, Yonhap News Agency reported.
In the wake of its joint military drills with the United Sates in late July, South Korea has now planned to stage its own anti-submarine exercises for five days near the Yellow Sea border with North Korea.
The two countries have been teetering on the brink of a full-scale confrontation following an alleged North Korea torpedo attack on a South Korean warship earlier in March.
Seoul has blamed a North Korean torpedo for the shipwreck, which left 46 sailors dead.
North Korea has categorically denied any involvement in the sinking of the vessel, saying the subsequent military drills are political provocations aimed at keeping the current status of the disputed sea border between the two countries.
North Korea has not recognized the line of demarcation which was drawn by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The maritime boundary has always been a lightening rod for deadly conflicts between the two sides in 1999, 2002 and last year.
The North Korean military has also warned all civilian ships against series consequences if they trespass into the sea border.
——Agencies