| Follow-up on Fred's Monday evening post. |
South Korea's military went into a high state of alert on Tuesday, tightening roadblocks and traffic checks north of Seoul after finding signs of possible infiltration by North Korean agents, officials said. The increased security along the roads between the tense border and Seoul came as U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was visiting South Korea to discuss a strategy for restarting stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. South Korean border guards found a hole in the wire fence that forms the southern boundary of the 2.5-mile wide Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, said Brig. Gen. Hwang Joong-sun of the South Korean Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff. The 16- by 12-inch hole, which was cut through two layers of wire fence meters yards apart, was discovered early Tuesday near Yeoncheon, a border town 40 miles north of Seoul.
North Korea had no immediate comment, but it has a long history of staging border infiltration and other military provocations in apparent attempts to hike tension and increase its leverage at times of crucial negotiations. South Korea imposed ``Jindogye-1'' around Yeoncheon, the highest level of vigilance the military can issue before an actual sighting of a communist infiltrator, said another ministry spokesman, who also refused to be named. Domestic media carried similar reports. Jindogye-1 reportedly requires military units to move troops for patrol and combat readiness. Soldiers also join police at checkpoints. Ministry officials refused to discuss details of the measures taken Tuesday. ``We are investigating several possibilities. In the meantime, we are conducting our military operations in case there is an infiltration by an enemy,'' Hwang said at a news conference. He refused to elaborate.
Police and soldiers tightened inspections in 54 checkpoints on the roads north of Seoul and established 16 temporary checkpoints, South Korea's national news agency Yonhap reported. The military also barred Yeoncheon farmers from working in fields near the border and posted sentries at foothills, Yonhap said. Police already had boosted security around the U.S. Embassy in Seoul and the main South Korean government building where Powell was meeting senior South Korean officials. They were guarding against possible demonstrations by activists who opposed Powell's trip, blaming President Bush for heightening tension with North Korea. |