Koreas tension rises

Chinese fishing boats were pulling out of the Yellow Sea possibly in fear of military clashes between North and South Korea, it was reported today.

The exodus came a day after North Korea renounced a truce keeping the peace on the peninsula.

It was not clear if the vessels – in the area for the crabbing season – were ordered by the North to leave or if they were doing so of their own volition.

The disputed waters off the Koreas’ western coast were the site of two deadly clashes during previous times of high tension in 1999 and 2002.

Tensions were high again this week after the North conducted its second nuclear test, fired several short-range missiles and then announced the 1953 truce that ended the Korea War was void.

About a dozen Chinese ships could be seen pulling out of port from Yeonpyeong, the closest South Korean island to the North, and heading elsewhere, Yonhap news agency said.

The agency said more than 280 Chinese vessels were fishing in the area earlier this week, but the number had dropped to about 140.

South Korean and US troops facing North Korea raised their surveillance to its highest level since 2006 yesterday.

North Korea, whose 1.2-million strong military is one of the world’s largest, says it is merely preparing to defend itself against what it says are plans by the United States to launch a pre-emptive strike to overthrow its secretive communist government.

It has been especially critical of Washington’s decision to deploy a squadron of F-22 fighter jets – the most advanced in the US Air Force – to the southern Japan island of Okinawa. The 12 fighters are to arrive tomorrow, according to a statement issued by Kadena Air Base.

The US has repeatedly denied any intention to attack North Korea. The four-month F-22 deployment had been planned well before Monday’s test.

In Washington, the US Army’s top officer, General George Casey, expressed confidence that America could fight a conventional war against North Korea if necessary, despite continuing conflicts elsewhere.

But US defence secretary Robert Gates, who is travelling to Singapore for regional talks, tried to lower the temperature.

“I don’t think that anybody in the (Obama) administration thinks there is a crisis,” Mr Gates said aboard his military jet early today.

Meanwhile, talks at the United Nations Security Council over possible sanctions for the nuclear test were moving forward slowly.

Russia’s UN ambassador said there was wide agreement among key world powers on what a new UN resolution should include, but said putting the elements together would take time because the issues were “complicated”.

A list of proposals was sent on Wednesday to the five permanent veto-wielding council members – the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France – and the two countries most closely affected by the nuclear test, Japan and South Korea.

Diplomats said a draft of the proposed resolution was not expected to be circulated until next week.

The two Koreas technically remain at war because they signed a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. North Korea disputes the UN-drawn maritime border off their west coast.

Pyongyang has positioned artillery guns along the west coast on its side of the border, Yonhap said. The Joint Chiefs of Staffs in Seoul refused to confirm the report.

The South has said its military would be able to contain the North with the help of US troops. It moved a 3,500-ton destroyer into waters near the western maritime border while smaller, high-speed vessels were keeping guard at the front line, according to Yonhap.

Seoul’s mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said more anti-air missiles and artillery were also dispatched to military bases on islands near the disputed western sea border.