North accuses S.Korea's new defence chief

North Korea lambasted South Korea's new defence chief for threatening to launch air strikes against the North and accused the South of causing "uncontrollable, extreme" tension on the peninsula.

The South's Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin told a confirmation hearing on Friday that jets would bomb the North if it stages another attack like the shelling on a front-line island that killed four South Koreans.

Mr Kim's predecessor resigned amid criticism that South Korea's response to the November 23 shelling was too slow and weak.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The North's official Korean Central News Agency issued a statement yesterday accusing the South of staging a series of "frantic provocations" including the defence minister's remarks.

The dispatch said South Korea plans to stage new naval drills with the United States soon, start its own live-fire drills from today and deploy missiles, rockets and other sophisticated weapons to Yeonpyeong Island that was hit by a North Korean artillery barrage.