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North Korean Air Force fighters have approached skies near the demilitarized zone and the Northern Limit Line, the de facto border in the West Sea, on some 10 occasions since Feb. 25, when the new conservative South Korean government was inaugurated. On each occasion, South Korean fighters immediately scrambled to intercept them.
Last Friday, the North fired short-range missiles into the West Sea while fighters also flew close to the South as many as five times, creating simultaneous tension in the sea and the skies, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said. And on the ground, even after a regular mobile exercise was finished, the elite Mechanized Corps stationed in Hwanghae Province was recently spotted moving south -- an unprecedented military move.
The South Korean Defense Ministry is closely monitoring the moves, believing the North is intentionally creating tensions in the sea, skies and on the ground. Sources in the South Korean government and military on Sunday said North Korean fighters including MIG-21s took off from North Korean air bases such as Tokchon Air Base in South Pyongan Province, crossed the "Tactical Action Line" set by South Korea, to fly near the DMZ and the NLL on about 10 occasions since the Lee Myun-bak administration's launch.
The TAL is an imaginary line set by the South 20 to 30 km north of the DMZ and the NLL, based on the assumption that North Korean fighter planes can reach skies over the Seoul Metropolitan area just three to five minutes after take-off. Once they come close to the TAL, that is the signal for South Korean fighters to take off from Suwon Air Base and elsewhere.
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An old Soviet-made Styx sea-to-sea missile of the sort fired by North Korea on Friday.
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On the most recent occasions, the North Korean fighters, once confronted, reportedly turned back north. Since 2005, North Korean fighters have several times flown close to the border, but never with such frequency.
Meanwhile, in a telephone message to the South last Saturday, North Korea two-star general Kim Young-chol, the chief delegate to inter-Korean general-grade talks, demanded South Korea apologize for and withdraw what it says was a threat of a ˇ°preemptive strikeˇ± made by Gen. Kim Tae-young, the designated chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Elaborating on a plan to counter a nuclear attack from the North in his confirmation hearing, Kim said the South would identify and hit enemy locations suspected of storing nuclear weapons. The Defense Ministry denies Kim was talking of a preemptive strike. It is to decide within the next few days whether to send a reply to the North.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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