한미는 북한의 위협공세 속에 연례 한미연합 키리졸브 훈련을 월요일부터 10일간 진행한다. 북한은 키리졸브 훈련을 선제타격을 노린 북침 핵전쟁 연습이라고 맹비난 하며, 훈련 시작과 함께 정전협정, 남북한 불가침 조약을 폐기하겠다고 선언한바 있다.

한미 연합군은 북한이 4월 30일까지 이어지는 독수리 연습과 함께 진행되는 키리졸브 훈련 동안 대남도발을 할 가능성에 대비해 경계태세를 강화하고 있다.

북한 노동당 기관지인 로동신문은 일요일 북한군이 최후돌진명령을 기다리며 만반의 준비를 하고 있다고 위협했다. 북한 위협이 증가됨에 따라, 박근혜 대통령은 김병관 국방장관 임명을 화요일에 할 것으로 알려졌다. 김 지명자는 여러 의혹으로 여론의 혹독한 검증에 시달려 왔다.

올해 키리졸브 훈련에는 미군 3,500여명을 비롯해 총 1만 3,500 여명이 참가하며, 최첨단 한미 군사 자산들이 동원될 예정이다. 북한도 키리졸브 훈련에 맞춰 국가급 훈련을 강원도 원산 인근에서 실시 할 것으로 예상된다.

북한은 서해, 동해에 비행, 항해 금지 구역을 최근 설정하여, 한국군은 북한의 도발 가능성을 주시해왔다. 군 당국은 북한이 KN-02와 같은 단거리 미사일 발사와 같은 도발을 감행 할 수 있다고 보고 있다. 전문가들은 사이버 테러나, 2010년 천안함 피격, 연평도 폭격과 같은 형식의 기습적 저강도 도발을 일으킬 수 있다고 지적했다.

한국군은 북한 도발시, 도발 원점, 지원세력, 그 지도부까지 도발의 10배에 해당하는 강도로 반격할 것이라고 경고했다. 한국 합동참모본부는 한미국지도발계획 관련, 현재 한미간 최종 조율 중이고 곧 완성될 것이라고 밝혔다.

(코리아 헤럴드 송상호 기자)



<관련 영문기사>

S. Korea, U.S. begin Key Resolve drills

By Song Sang-ho

South Korea and the U.S. kick off their annual 10-day Key Resolve drills on Monday -- the day Pyongyang said it would scrap the armistice agreement and inter-Korean nonaggression pacts.

The allied militaries have remained on high alert as Pyongyang could launch provocations near sea and land borders during their regular drills including the one-month Foal Eagle exercise to run until April 30.

On Sunday, the North, which denounced the drills as a “rehearsal for a nuclear war of incursion,” warned its troops are waiting for an “ultimate order to charge in” on its hostile forces.

“All means for our style of precision, nuclear strikes also maintain their combat mobilization posture. When the sound of gunfire for the holy war of reunification is heard, the U.S. and South Korea would immediately turn into a sea of fire,” the Rodong Sinmun, the daily of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in a piece.

To cope with the spiraling tension on the peninsula, President Park Geun-hye is expected to officially appoint scandal-laden Defense Minister nominee Kim Byung-kwan on Tuesday, sources said. Kim has been upbraided for allegations of tax evasion and other ethical lapses.

Some 13,500 allied troops including around 3,500 U.S. forces are to join the Key Resolve command post exercise, where the allies are expected to mobilize top-of-the-line weapons systems such as the F-22 stealth combat aircraft.

Officials and observers said in time for the drills, the North could stage its own national-level exercise, which involves all of its armed services including special warfare troops, in areas in and around Wonsan, Gangwon Province.

As the communist state has recently set no-fly, no-sail zones in its western and eastern frontline areas, the South Korean military has been keeping closer tabs on the possibility of North Korean provocations.

It believes the North could launch short-range missiles such as the KN-02 missile with a range of around 120 km and Scud-B/C missiles with ranges of 300-500 km.

Some observers said Pyongyang could launch attacks in cyberspace or low-intensity provocations similar to the sinking of the corvette Cheonan or artillery attack on Yeonpyeongdo, both of which took place in 2010, killing a total of 50 South Koreans.

Ratcheting up its defense posture, Seoul warned last week that it would launch a counterstrike -- 10 times stronger than the provocation -- at the origin of the attack, forces supporting it and its commanders.

Seoul and Washington will soon complete their joint plan to respond to North Korean provocations and are now in “final coordination,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, dismissing the reports concerning the delay due to the difficulty reconciling the allies’ differences over it.

“It is not a delay, but we are pushing to complete the plan in line with the changing situations including the North’s missile launch (in December) and nuclear test (on Feb. 12). It has been proceeding according to our mutual schedules,” it said in a statement.

The allies initially planned to complete the plan by January this year, but have yet to finalize the work apparently due to some differences over the scope of a potential counterattack.

Seoul argues it should launch a strong counter strike in the name of self-defense while Washington appears uneasy about Seoul taking too aggressive a stance due to the risk of provocations escalating into a full-blown war, which could drag in both the U.S. and China.

As the international community including its only major ally China has been moving toward tougher punishment for its Feb. 12 nuclear test, Pyongyang has spewed out a series of hostile statements against Seoul and Washington.

On Saturday, Pyongyang’s foreign ministry dismissed a fresh U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution as a “byproduct of U.S. hostile policy,” and vowed to make permanent its status as a nuclear power and satellite-launching country.

Unanimously adopted on Thursday to condemn the North’s third atomic test, UNSC Resolution 2094 entails tougher sanctions including those targeting illicit activities of North Korea’s diplomats, financial transactions and bulk-cash transfers.
(sshluck@heraldcorp.com)