South Korea's live-fire drill that was expected to start as early as this weekend off a front-line island will likely be moved back a day or two because of bad weather, a military source said Saturday, following North Korea's warning of a fresh attack, Yonhap reported.
Tensions spiked high in the Yellow Sea after North Korea warned Friday that it will strike back with "deadlier" firepower if the South goes ahead with its planned exercise off Yeonpyeong Island. The North bombarded the island on Nov. 23, killing two civilians and two marines.
South Korea's military had planned to hold the one-day drill between Saturday and Tuesday, but a military source, requesting anonymity, told Yonhap News Agency that the exercise is not likely to happen during the weekend, citing weather conditions.
"Given that the maritime weather conditions around Yeonpyeong Island are expected to worsen from this afternoon, we decided that it'd be difficult for the military to hold a live-fire drill," the source said.
The military, however, will still go ahead with the exercise on Monday or Tuesday, the source added.
"Weather conditions are the most important factor in deciding the time for a drill. Early next week will be the most likely time to hold it because the weather should improve," he said.
In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the North said it will "deal the second and third unpredictable self-defensive blow" if the drills are carried out.
"It will be deadlier than what was made on Nov. 23 in terms of the power and range of the strike," the unnamed head of the North Korean general-level military delegation said. The North issued a similar warning on Saturday.
Neighboring countries and allies closely watched the situation on the Korean Peninsula. The United States supported South Korea's planned drill, while calls for restraint came from China and Russia.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned South Korean Ambassador to China Yu Woo-ik in Beijing on Friday to urge Seoul to refrain from the drill, a high-level diplomatic source in Seoul said, requesting anonymity.
Also, in a statement posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry Web site, ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said China "opposes any activity that will deteriorate the situation of the Korean Peninsula and destroy peace and stability in the region."
Russia's Foreign Ministry also issued a statement calling on Seoul to refrain from artillery practice, noting the Nov. 23 attack occurred while a similar drill was under way.
But Washington called on China and Russia to pressure Pyongyang to stop its provocation. The North should not use the South Korean exercise as an excuse for further provocation, said U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.
"We want to see other countries, including China and Russia and others, send a clear message to North Korea to cease its provocations," Crowley told a daily briefing. "It is certainly understandable that South Korea is making sure that its military is properly prepared in the face of North Korea's ongoing provocations."
A senior U.S. politician and a top U.S. nuclear envoy were each visiting Pyongyang and Seoul amid the tensions. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson arrived in Pyongyang earlier this week on a private mission to defuse the tensions, while Sung Kim, U.S. envoy to six-nation nuclear talks on North Korea, met with his South Korean counterpart in Seoul on Friday.
South Korean political parties were sharply divided, with the opposition calling for the exercise to be canceled.
"Not only China and Russia but also U.S. experts are deeply concerned that this live-fire drill could cause a chain reaction from North Korea, which would be another bombardment," Cha Young, spokesperson of the main opposition Democratic Party, said.
But the ruling Grand National Party called for "strong and stern action" from the military.
Some 20 military personnel from the U.S. forces in South Korea are expected to provide medical, communications and intelligence support for the drill. Members of the Military Armistice Commission of the U.S.-led United Nations Command, which supervises the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, will also observe the upcoming drill.
In preparation for a possible provocation by the North, the South's military will keep fighter jets on standby. The Joint Chiefs of Staff has also deployed surface-to-air missiles, more K-9 self-propelled howitzers and 130-millimeter multiple-launch rocket systems to the island.
In last month's attack, North Korea fired about 170 artillery shells onto Yeonpyeong, and South Korean marines stationed on the island managed to fire just 80 rounds in return.
The communist country does not honor the Northern Limit Line, just above the Yeonpyeong island, that has served as a de facto maritime border between the Koreas because it was unilaterally drawn by a U.S. general at the end of the Korean War.