DPRK warns ROK against new military drill

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) strongly warned Republic of Korea (ROK) Sunday against executing its military drill plan against the DPRK, the official news agency KCNA reported Monday.

According to the KCNA, the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement that ROK's planned shell firing drill against the "DPRK's waters" in the West Sea of Korea was "a very dangerous play with fire to ignite a war against the North."

The Secretariat warned of a "thousand-fold" punishment, which would be severer than the past Yonphyong Island shelling, against the ROK authorities if they went ahead with their plan.

The DPRK issued the statement as a second warning after ROK refused to halt its drills despite the DPRK's initial vows of "merciless retaliatory strikes" hours after the drill notification on Sunday.

ROK is set to hold live-fire drills in the waters near the islands of Baengnyeong and Yonphyong.

These drills, the second of their kind this year, were designed to maintain troops' combat readiness and would involve "self-propelled howitzers, Vulcans, mortars and Cobra attack helicopters," ROK's Yonhap news agency quoted the country's military officials as saying.

A ROK's official said weather permitting, the drills are expected to last about two hours Monday morning, according to the Yonhap report.

The official also said they are keeping a close eye on the DPRK military's moves, adding that they would strike back if the DPRK "provokes us."

A fierce artillery fire exchange occurred between the two sides near  Yonphyong Island in November 2010, killing four people of ROK. Both sides accused the other of firing the first shot.