Acting president says N. Korea is plotting 'new forms of provocations'

Acting President Han Duck-soo accused the North Korean regime Friday of plotting "new forms of provocations" against the South while neglecting the plight of its citizens.

Han made the remark in a speech marking the 10th West Sea Defense Day at the national cemetery in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul, during a ceremony honoring the 55 sailors and Marines killed while defending the western sea border with the North.

"We firmly defended the West Sea through the noble sacrifices of our heroes, but even today, North Korea's most backward regime on earth continues to threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the world," he said.

"While improving its weapons systems targeted at us through illegal arms trade with Russia, it is plotting new forms of provocations."

Han sought to assure the nation that the government and the military are maintaining a full readiness posture to ensure the people can live their lives at ease.

"The young soldiers who inherited the fighting spirit of the West Sea warriors will respond immediately and overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocation based on strong combat capabilities and a solid readiness posture," he said.

"Moreover, they will firmly maintain the security posture by further strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance and solidarity with the international community so that (the North) does not dare challenge the Republic of Korea," he added, referring to the South by its formal name.

Waters near the western maritime border have been a flashpoint between the two Koreas, where three bloody naval skirmishes took place in 1999, 2002 and 2009. The 2002 clash left six South Korean sailors killed.

In March 2010, Pyongyang torpedoed a South Korean warship near the boundary, killing 46 sailors on board. Another service member died during rescue operations. In November that year, the North bombarded the South's border island of Yeonpyeong, killing two Marines and two civilians.

Han said North Korea has continued to carry out threatening provocations by launching missiles and jamming GPS signals, in addition to defining inter-Korean relations as those between "two states hostile to each other" and fortifying its land.

"The North Korean regime pursues only the succession of power, and focuses on its nuclear and missile development while neglecting the miserable lives of its people," he said. (Yonhap)