Defense chief calls for defending NLL on anniversary of 2010 warship sinking

SEOUL, March 26 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Shin Won-sik on Tuesday called for defending the western sea border against enemy threats on the anniversary of the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship by a North Korean torpedo attack.

The ROKS Cheonan corvette sank near the western Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto inter-Korean sea border, in March 2010, after a North Korean midget submarine fired a torpedo at it, killing 46 sailors.

"North Korea is claiming the NLL is a ghost line without legal grounds and is continuously trying to nullify it," Shin said in his phone talks with the commanding officer of a new frigate named after the torpedoed warship.

"Protect the Yellow Sea and the NLL that the comrades before you have defended by giving up their lives."

In turn, Cdr. Park Yeon-soo, the commanding officer, vowed to avenge the sailors of the Cheonan if the enemy undertakes a provocation. Park served on the previous warship and is a survivor of the 2010 attack.

Shin's call came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month rejected the NLL as a "ghost" line and called for using force against South Korean vessels violating its waters.

The minister also visited the 6th Marine Brigade on the border island of Baengnyeong to pay his respects at a memorial for the fallen sailors of the Cheonan and called on troops to destroy the enemy in the event of a provocation.

"If the enemy undertakes a provocation, utilize ground, sea and air assets under the principle of punishing immediately, strongly and until the end to completely annihilate the origin of the provocation and the command and support forces," he was quoted as saying.

Shin said there is a high possibility of the North carrying out surprise provocations, such as with coastal defense cruise missiles, coastal artillery and torpedoes, citing tensions raised by recent North Korean military exercises.

Earlier this month, the North's leader oversaw a series of military drills that involved long-range artillery, paratroopers and tanks.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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