【英语国际】朝鲜向朝韩海上边界发射百余发炮弹

North Korea fired artillery near a contested maritime border Monday just hours after South Korea ended a naval drill, as Pyongyang stepped up its military posturing and diplomatic rhetoric, which has been hotter than usual since the South in late May accused the North of sinking one of its warships.

North Korea fired 110 to 130 rounds Monday from a base on its southwest coast near the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

It isn't clear what the target was, but the shells landed in North Korean waters and caused no damage, a South Korean military spokesman said. The artillery firing was the first by North Korea in that region since January.

The action came just a few hours after South Korea finished the second of two multiday antisubmarine drills designed to boost naval training in the aftermath of the March sinking of its patrol ship Cheonan, which resulted in the death of 46 sailors.

North Korea's silence about its detention over the weekend of a South Korean fishing vessel added another matter to strained inter-Korean relations. South Korea was joined by China on Monday in asking North Korea for information about the ship and its crew of four South Koreans and three Chinese.

The artillery firing is one of the few military actions North Korea can take that spawns headlines in South Korea, but doesn't produce much criticism from Seoul or anger other countries, analysts say. North Korea has for decades possessed a huge cache of rockets and artillery that could damage much of the South.

'One of the foremost threats North Korea has is its long-range artillery,' says Kim Byung-ki, a political scientist at Korea University in Seoul. 'It's a show of force that is designed to threaten and coerce us without provoking a serious response.'

Any more-provocative action, he added, might put its ally China, which has stood by North Korea amid accusations over the sinking of the South Korean warship, into a position of criticizing or penalizing the country.

朝鲜周一在朝韩之间一处有争议的海上边界附近发射了炮弹；就在几小时前，韩国刚刚结束了一场海军演习。平壤方面的军事姿态和外交措辞更加强硬，自5月底韩国指责朝鲜击沉了韩国一艘军舰以来，平壤的态度比以往更加火爆。

周一，在黄海海域朝韩边界附近朝鲜西南海岸的一个基地，朝鲜发射了110至130枚炮弹。

目前还不清楚炮弹的目标是什么，不过韩国军方发言人说，炮弹落在朝鲜水域中，没有造成伤害。这是1月份以来朝鲜在该地区进行的首次炮弹发射。

在此之前几个小时，韩国刚刚结束了一场持续数日的反潜艇演习，这是两次演习中的第二次。演习旨在3月份“天安”号巡逻舰沉没事件后，增强海军的演练。“天安”号事件中有46名船员遇难。

朝鲜对上周末扣留一艘韩国渔船的行为保持沉默，这令业已紧张的朝韩关系再起波澜。韩国与中国周一要求朝鲜公布渔船以及船上四名韩国人和三名中国人的情况。

此次炮弹发射是朝鲜能够引起韩国关注的极少数军事行动之一，不过分析人士说，此事并没有引起韩国的太多批评或其他国家的不满。数十年来，朝鲜一直拥有大量可以破坏韩国大部分地区的导弹和炮弹。

首尔高丽大学(Korea University)政治学家Kim Byung-ki说，朝鲜带来的最大威胁之一是远程炮弹，这是力量的显示，是为了在不引发严重反应的情况下，威胁、压制我们。

他还说，任何更具挑衅性的行为都可能使朝鲜的盟友中国陷入批评或惩罚朝鲜的境地。在对韩国军舰沉没事件的众多谴责声中，中国一直支持朝鲜。