By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
North Korea has been gearing up for an invasion of South Korea via islands near their shared western sea border, based on reports carried by the North’s own state media on Saturday.
Leader Kim Jong-un was shown by multiple outlets to be inspecting a drill aimed at “striking and seizing an island,” as Pyongyang’s KCNA news agency put it.
The exercise included North Korea’s so-called 4th Corp., which was involved in a 2010 attack on the South’s Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea -- a shelling that claimed four South Korean lives.
While North Korea’s media failed to elaborate on the timing of the drill, the reports emerged just two days after Lunar New Year’s Day - a traditional period of family festivities for Koreans, despite past efforts to curb celebrations in the North.
Ahead of upcoming annual joint exercises involving South Korea and the United States, Kim was quoted by the KCNA as calling for “the entire army” to intensify their training.
He also spoke of “crushing the enemies promptly in case they pounce upon [North Korea].”
Seoul-based news agency Yonhap cited the South Korean government in reporting that the North’s drill was held on Friday, and saw the use of Chinese-made anti-ship missiles - Beijing is widely viewed as Pyongyang’s closest ally.
The Koreas never signed a peace treaty when the Korean War came to a close in 1953 - since then their western sea border has been the scene of particularly tense confrontations during decades of tumultuous relations.
