Latest news with #10thWestSeaDefenseDay
Korea Herald
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Acting president slams North Korea's ‘illegal arms trade' with Russia
Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Friday said that North Korea's ongoing illegal arms trade with Russia has allowed the 'degenerate' regime to plot new forms of provocations. 'Through illegal arms trade with Russia, (North Korea) has been plotting new forms of provocations by upgrading its weapons system aimed to threaten us,' Han said in a speech marking the 10th West Sea Defense Day. Friday's ceremony was held at the national cemetery in Daejeon to honor and remember the 55 sailors and Marines killed while defending the western inter-Korean maritime border. 'We were able to defend the West Sea through the noble sacrifices of our heroes, but even today, North Korea's most degenerate regime on earth continues to threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula and of the world," he added. Despite international sanctions banning arms trade with Pyongyang, Moscow has been expanding its military ties with the reclusive regime since last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday listed North Korea as a partner country with which he is willing to cooperate to settle its war in Ukraine, according to Russian state news agency Tass. South Korea's military, in a report released Thursday, said the North is believed to have deployed at least 3,000 additional troops to Russia in the first two months of this year, despite heavy casualties among soldiers already sent to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine. The North is believed to have deployed about 11,000 soldiers to the Russia-Ukraine front in its first round of deployments around October last year. It has been receiving technological aid to its weapons program in exchange, officials and experts have noted. Han said that South Korea is maintaining a full readiness posture to protect the people against any provocations from the North. "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 firm readiness posture," he said. He pledged to advance the decades-old South Korea-US alliance and solidarity with the international community to maintain the security posture. Since the 1970s, North Korea has engaged in military provocations along the Northern Limit Line, the disputed maritime demarcation line between the South and North. Its regime has argued that the NLL was drawn unilaterally by the United Nations Command after the 1950-53 Korean War. Three naval skirmishes have taken place, in 1999, 2002 and 2009. The 2002 clash, referred to as the second Yeonpyeong Battle, left six South Korean sailors dead and 19 wounded. Additionally, the sinking of the South's Cheonan corvette in March 2010 left 46 sailors dead, after a North Korean submarine torpedoed the warship near the NLL. Pyongyang, however, has denied responsibility. Later that year, the North also bombed the nearby island Yeonpyeongdo, killing two Marines and two civilians.
Korea Herald
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
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)
