U.N. council meets as North Korea raises the alert

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session on Sunday to try to cool tensions on the Korean peninsula as North Korea's military was reported to have raised an alert for artillery units along its west coast.
Pyongyang's move, the latest in a growing crisis between the two Koreas, came ahead of a planned live-fire drill by the South, Yonhap news agency said, quoting a government source.
Bad weather had so far delayed the South's planned firing drill at a disputed border that has enraged Pyongyang.
The standoff between the two countries has raised international concern that their spat could quickly spiral out of control. Both sides have said they will use military means to defend what they say is their territory off the west coast.
"We understand that there's been an upgrade in alert at artillery units," Yonhap quoted the South Korean government source as saying. South Korea's defense ministry offered no immediate comment.
China and Russia have called on both Koreas to avoid actions that could inflame tensions. Washington has backed Seoul's push to go ahead with the planned live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong island, where four South Koreans were killed in an artillery attack last month.
SOUTH SCHEDULED DRILL BEFORE TUESDAY
The drill, within view of the North Korean mainland, is scheduled to take place sometime before Tuesday.
Underlining international concerns, the Security Council will seek a way out of the crisis -- described as "extremely precarious" and a "tinderbox" by U.S. and Chinese officials.
"We believe that the Security Council must send a restraining signal to the Republic of Korea and DPRK (North) and help launch diplomatic activity with a view to resolving all issues of dispute between the two Korean sides by political and diplomatic means," said Vitaly Churkin, Russia's U.N. envoy.
The council meeting began with closed-door consultations that diplomats hoped could lead to some kind of statement to help ease tensions. Recent Western attempts to get the Security Council to rebuke Pyongyang over a deadly artillery shelling incident last month and its nuclear program have been blocked by China, a veto-wielding permanent council member.
North Korea has called the artillery fire drill by the South a suicidal war move that would trigger all-out conflict on peninsula and said it would strike back in self-defense.
The South has said if it was attacked in the same manner as last month, it would hit back hard with air power and bombs.
Analysts were skeptical the North would carry through with its threats to hit the South even harder than last month's bombardment if shells landed in its territory again.
The North will likely respond by holding a live-fire drill on its side of the tensely guarded sea border, if the South goes ahead with its exercise, analysts said.
BAD WEATHER STALLS DRILL
Weather conditions worsened on the normally sleepy island, which has been largely abandoned by residents after the November 23 attack.
The South Korean government, widely criticized at home for its perceived weak response to the shelling of the island, remained determined to carry out the exercise despite calls to reconsider.
"There is no plan to cancel the exercise. The factor we're looking at is the weather condition," a Defense Ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.
South Korean marines plan to test artillery firing from the island targeting its territorial waters to its southwest, the same type of exercise that North Korea last month called an attack and prompted its shelling of the island.
Concern mounted on the island among the few residents who remained, and anticipation was growing that the drill would take place on Monday.
"I see they have to do what they have to do, but the people here want peace and quiet," Dan Choon-nam said, after a tearful church service. "We want things to be back to how they were."
U.S. troubleshooter Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico who is on a private mission to Pyongyang, said he had made some progress in his discussions with officials there.
He told CNN he did not get a firm answer on whether North Korea would physically strike the South again, but added: "It's still very tense out there."
"They said there would be a response, but at the same time they hope a U.N. Security Council resolution would tamp down the situation. It was very clear they were very upset by the potential exercise," Richardson told CNN from Pyongyang.
North Korea continued with a blistering assault on the South and the United States at the weekend, accusing Seoul of conspiring with Washington to create hostility against it.
The North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement: "We will be sure to settle scores with the U.S. for the extreme situation on the Korean peninsula. Our military does not speak empty words."
(Additional reporting by Kim Do-gyun in Yeonpyeong, Chris Buckley in Beijing; Writing by Jack Kim and Patrick Worsnip; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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South Korea spy chief says more attacks likely

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea is highly likely to attack South Korea again, the South's spy chief said on Wednesday, as a flotilla of American warships led by an aircraft carrier left South Korean waters after a deadly attack.
"There is a high possibility that the North will make an additional attack," Won Sei-hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service, told a parliamentary committee meeting.
The South's Defense Minister, Kim Tae-young, has also warned there was an "ample possibility" the North might stage another provocation once a U.S.-South Korea exercise ended on Wednesday.
Won said wire-taps in August indicated Pyongyang was preparing for an attack off the west coast designed to smooth the way for Kim Jong-il's son to take over as leader, Yonhap news agency reported.
"In August this year, we confirmed North Korea's plan to attack five islands in the West Sea through wiretapping," he said. "We didn't expect the (North's) shelling on civilians, as North Korea has often made threatening remarks.
Last week, North Korea fired a barrage of artillery rounds at Yeonpyeong island in the first such attack on civilians on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 Korean war. Two civilians were among the four killed.
Analysts say the attack was an attempt to force the resumption of international negotiations that could bring it aid, or could be seen as an attempt to boost the militaristic credentials of the country's leader-in-waiting, Kim Jong-un.
Won said the attack on Yeonpyeong island came as "internal complaints are growing about the North's succession for a third generation (of Kim family rule), and its economic situation is worsening."
Kim Jong-un is the youngest son of ailing leader Kim Jong-il.
CHINA STANDS BY NORTH
China steadfastly stood by its ally, North Korea, on Wednesday, refusing to bow to international pressure and condemn its actions at the United Nations.
Beijing said it would not favor any side but wanted to help resolve the dispute as a "responsible great power."
China, North Korea's only powerful ally, protected Pyongyang from censure by the U.N. Security Council for last week's deadly bombardment of Yeonpyeong, an attack many analysts believe was an attempt to force the resumption of international negotiations that could bring it aid.
"Our general goal is for all sides to exercise calm and restraint and to make every effort to avoid such incidents recurring," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said as South Korea planned further military drills for next week after U.S. warships leave Wednesday.
"Since the exchange of fire between North and South Korea, China has made a series of efforts to prevent the situation from escalating and deteriorating. China decides its position based on the merits of each case and does not seek to protect any side," Yang said.
Yang spoke as Chen Zhili, vice-chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, met a delegation from North Korea. China wants to hold an emergency meeting of the six regional powers, but the proposal has met with a lukewarm response.
An attempt by France and Britain to push the U.N. Security Council to condemn North Korea's nuclear program and the attack on Yeonpyeong was on the verge of collapse because of China's unwillingness to apportion blame, envoys said.
The reason for the virtual breakdown of talks on two Security Council statements to rebuke Pyongyang was China's demand for removal of words such as "condemn" and "violation."
The United States and South Korea are pressing China, which has not blamed North Korea for the island attack or for the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in March, to do more to rein in its ally.
Meanwhile, a four-day show-of-force military exercise with the United States, which included the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, concluded and the vessels headed to another joint maneuver with Japan.
There were no further attacks and markets were assuaged.
Wednesday, stocks ended up 1 percent and the won currency was up 0.7 percent, but credit default swaps rose to a three-month high Wednesday, Reuters data showed, indicating continued risk concerns.
"People know that it's not the end and North Korea can come out again any time after the exercise ends with a sort of violations," said a foreign exchange trader at a Singaporean bank in Seoul.
South Korea is planning further artillery drills, "including waters close to the Yellow Sea border (with the North)" starting Monday, Yonhap said.
Oil traders, meanwhile, said the U.S. Navy was seeking a medium-range oil tanker to move at least 30,000 tons of jet fuel from Japan to South Korea, suggesting it was stockpiling.[nL3E6N108J]
The route is unusual for jet fuel, but the U.S. military said such shipments were standard for operational use.
Nearly 30,000 U.S. troops are based in South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North, having only signed a truce to end fighting in the 1950-53 war.
(Additional reporting by Yoo Choonsik and Yeonhee Kim in Seoul; and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Ron Popeski)

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