|
The bombardment of Yeonpyeong was an artillery engagement between the North Korean military and South Korean forces stationed on Yeonpyeong Island on 23 November 2010. Following a South Korean artillery exercise in waters in the south, North Korean forces fired around 170 artillery shells and rockets at Yeonpyeong Island, hitting both military and civilian targets.〔〔(N.K. artillery strikes S. Korean island ) 2010-11-23. Korea Herald〕〔 The shelling caused widespread damage on the island, killing four South Koreans and injuring 19. South Korea retaliated by shelling North Korean gun positions. The North Koreans subsequently stated that they had responded to South Korean shells being fired into North Korean territorial waters. The incident caused an escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula and prompted widespread international condemnation of the North's actions. The United Nations declared it to be one of the most serious incidents since the end of the Korean War, and by December 18 former UN ambassador Bill Richardson said tensions had escalated to become "the most serious crisis on the Korean peninsula since the 1953 armistice which ended the Korean War." ==Background== A western maritime line of military control between the two Koreas was established by United Nations Command (UNC) in 1953, called the Northern Limit Line (NLL). According to ''Time,'' "The North does not recognize the border that was unilaterally drawn by the United Nations at the close of the 1950–53 Korean War."〔Kim, Kwang-Tae. ( "After Exchange of Fire, N. Korea Threatens More Strikes on South," ) ''Time'' (US). 2010-11-23〕 Under the provisions of the armistice, five Northwest Islands are specifically designated to remain under the jurisdiction of the United Nations.〔Ryoo, Moo Bong. (2009). ("The Korean Armistice and the Islands," ) p. iii (OMB Form No. 0704-0188). Strategy research project at the U.S. Army War College. Retrieved 22 December 2010.〕 The countries' western maritime boundary has long been a flash point between the two Koreas.〔 North Korea did not dispute or violate the line until 1973.〔(Factbox: What is the Korean Northern Limit Line? ) 2010-11-23. Reuters〕 The NLL was drawn up at a time when a three-nautical-mile territorial waters limit was the norm, but when in the 1970s a twelve nautical mile limit became internationally accepted, the implementation of the NLL prevented North Korea, in areas, from accessing, arguably actual or prospective, territorial waters.〔 Later, after 1982, it also hindered North Korea establishing a United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Exclusive Economic Zone to control fishing in the area.〔 In 1999, North Korea drew up their own line, the "West Sea Military Demarcation Line" which claims a maritime boundary farther south that encompasses valuable fishing grounds (though it skirts around South Korean-held islands such as Yeonpyeong). This claim is not accepted by either South Korea or the United Nations Command.〔Ryoo, p. 10; excerpt, The UNC stated in August 1999: "... the NLL issue was nonnegotiable, because the demarcation line had been recognized as the de facto maritime border for many years by both Koreas."〕〔Ryoo, p. 11; excerpt, "The NLL has served as an effective means of preventing military tension between North and South Korean military forces for 46 years. It serves as a practical demarcation line, which has contributed to the separation of forces." --1999. 6. 11, United Nations Command (Korea).〕 The United Nations Command perspective remained unchanging, explaining that the NLL must be maintained until any new maritime military demarcation line could be established through the Joint Military Commission on the armistice agreement. In an effort to assert its territorial claims, North Korea has pursued a strategy of challenging South Korean control of the waters south of the NLL. It has made several incursions that have sparked clashes between the two sides, notably a naval battle near Yeonpyeong island in 1999 as well as another engagement in the same area in 2002.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Northern Limit Line (NLL) West Sea Naval Engagements )〕 Although there were no further serious clashes for a time, in 2009 increasing tensions along the disputed border led to a naval battle near the island of Daecheong, and accusations that a North Korean submarine had sunk the South Korean corvette ''Cheonan'' off Baengnyeong Island in March 2010. Days before the incident, the North Korean government revealed their new uranium enrichment facility,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=North Korea – Construction Of Nuclear Power Plant. )〕〔 〕 prompting the South Korean government to consider requesting that the United States station tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea for the first time in 19 years.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=VOANews "S. Korea Could Seek Deployment of US Tactical Nuclear Weapons" 22 November 2010 )〕 On the same day, South Korea and the United States began the annual Hoguk exercise, a large-scale military drill involving the South Korean and US militaries. The 2010 exercise involved 70,000 troops from all four branches of the South Korean military, equipped with 600 tracked vehicles, 90 helicopters, 50 warships, and 500 aircraft. The United States contributed its 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Seventh Air Force to the land and sea elements of the exercise.〔Son, Won-je. "(Experts cite succession and diplomatic pressure following artillery fire )". The Hankyoreh, 2010-11-24〕 It had originally been intended that the United States Navy and Marine Corps would participate in a joint amphibious exercise in the Yellow (Western) Sea, west of South Korea. However, the US pulled out of the joint exercise citing "scheduling conflicts", though South Korean observers suggested that the real reason was the opposition of China, which regards a large portion of the Yellow Sea as its own territory.〔 The North Korean government regards the exercises as preparation for a combined arms attack on the North.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bombardment of Yeonpyeong」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|