'S. Korea would immediately respond to N.K. artillery fire'

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young

The South Korean military would immediately fire back after warning announcements should North Korea fire its artillery into waters south of the maritime border, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young indicated Tuesday during a parliamentary committee session.

The military was criticized for its "lukewarm response" to the recent volley of coastal artillery fire by the North. On Aug. 9, some 10 of about 110 shells fired by the North fell in the waters south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border.

"We have revised the warfare rules, which were crafted after the North Korean artillery fire in January, and sent them to each unit," Kim said.

"Our previous warfare rules stated that we do not fire back if the North does not fire additional rounds after three warning announcements are given. The rules are different from the ground warfare rules, so we have made a revision in line with them."

According to the ground warfare rules, South Korea is to respond to North Korean attacks on its territory with firepower, which is two to three times greater than that of the North.

North Korea fired some 400 artillery rounds from Jan. 27-29 toward the NLL, none of them fell south of the NLL.

Some observers said the North might have deliberately fired some of the artillery rounds into waters south of the sea border on Aug. 9 to respond to the maritime maneuvers that the South Korean military finished right before the volley.

The military believes that the North has deployed around 1,000 artillery pieces in its coastal regions and islands near the western sea border.

Touching on the possible North Korean cannon attacks that are launched at a low altitude, Kim said, "We plan to introduce new equipment with a sound-guided tracking capability.

Kim also said that North Korea appears to possess its own unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, but it is not of good quality.

"We have confirmed that what was presumed to be an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft was flying (at the time of the artillery fire on Aug. 9). But we believe that it is not of good quality," Kim said.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldm.com)