Article Posted on : - Dec 20, 2010

A file photo

SEOUL (AFP): North Korea has boosted the readiness of its military forces on the coast nearest to a planned live-fire drill by South Korea, the South's Yonhap news agency said Sunday, quoting a government source.

"The North Korean artillery unit along the Yellow Sea has raised its preparedness level," the anonymous source was quoted as saying.

"Some fighter aircraft that had been inside the air force hangar have come out to the ground," Yonhap quoted the source as saying, without confirming whether weapons had been moved closer to the south.

In November North Korean artillery fired on Yeonpyeong Island, near the two countries' disputed maritime border, killing four people in its first shelling of a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.

The attack has sparked fears of a conflict on the tense peninsula.

The North has threatened to hit back harder if South Korea carries out a planned live-fire drill in the area, but the South said Sunday it would go ahead with the exercise on Monday or Tuesday.