Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 6 (ANI): India and France on Monday expressed concern about the situation in the Korean peninsula and urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to comply with UNSC and IAEA Board of Governors (BoG) resolutions.

Earlier, brushing aside North Korean warnings of an eminent war on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea has begun live-fire artillery drills near their disputed maritime border.

The live drills come less than two weeks after North Korea’s surprise shelling of a South Korea-held island, sharply escalating tensions between the two countries.

It was not immediately clear if the drills were being staged near the shelled island of Yeonpyeong, where the North’s barrage killed two marines and two civilians on November 23 in one of the most serious episodes since the 1953 armistice that halted the Korean War. South Korea begins live fire military drills

According to the New York Times and the BBC, the South Korean Government has said that the drills were taking place in 29 land and sea locations.

The BBC said that both Japan and the US are also conducting major joint military drills. The exercises, called “Keen Sword”, involve 44,000 personnel, 400 aircraft and 60 warships.

The US is set to host talks with Japan and South Korea, while China has called for six-nation talks to resume.

Pyongyang has accused Seoul of provocation, over its threat to use air strikes in response to further attacks from the North.

The Northern Limit Line, the maritime border declared by UN forces at the end of the Korean War in 1953, is not recognised by Pyongyang.

The South Korean military said last week it would hold further drills in the area but had not indicated when. It is expected the new drills will last about a week.

The North said a previous live-fire drill by the South had sent shells into its territorial waters and thus provoked the artillery response against Yeonpyeong. South Korea said that it had fired away from the North and that the attack was unprovoked. (ANI)