NK artillery firing believed to be test of S.Korean capability

South Korean military authorities say North Korea’s artillery firing Wednesday at waters near the Northern Limit Line was intended to test the South’s Hostile Artillery Locating System.

Military experts say Pyongyang’s intent is obvious if the latest firing is compared to those of last year. In August last year, the North fired a barrage of coastal artillery shots at the Northern Limit Line immediately after the South ended a joint maritime maneuver exercise.

In the process, the North was bold enough to fire some 100 more rounds even after receiving a warning from the South’s military. The shots were seen as muscle flexing against the South’s beefing up of its west coast defense after the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and practice for the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island that the North would commit three months later.

Yet Wednesday’s firing was different. The North fired three rounds at 1 p.m. and another two at 7:46 p.m., and ignored the South’s warning after the first provocation and did not respond even after Seoul fired back.

The second round of the North`s artillery firing came five hours after the South returned fire.

A high-ranking military source said Thursday that the North carefully fired artillery shots in daytime and at night, checking how the South Korean military detected and responded to the firings.

“The North most likely intended to test the Hostile Artillery Locating System installed on the five frontline islands and used the information for additional provocations,” the source said.

Though state media reports and a notification to the South, Pyongyang blamed Seoul Thursday for "fabricating” the incident in an attempt to escalate tension ahead of the South Korea-U.S. combined military exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency claimed blasts occurred at major construction sites in South Hwanghae Province, adding the South Korean military “fabricated the situation” for use as an excuse for a military response.

Chinese media sided with the North, reporting that the South responded after hearing what was “presumed” to be the sound of artillery fire. Beijing’s official Xinhua News Agency also quoted the North Korean news agency as saying the South mistook blasts at construction sites as artillery fire and responded militarily.

ysh1005@donga.com koh@donga.com