Report: More NKorea weapons near SKorea island

SEOUL - North Korea has reinforced its coastal artillery with dozens of new cannons aimed at a South Korean frontline island, the site of a cross-border gunfight a year ago, a report said Friday. The extra deployment of 76.2mm guns with a range of 12 kilometres (7.2 miles) was spotted from Yeonpyeong island, a flashpoint in the Yellow Sea, the South's Yonhap news agency said. The move came after the South sent extra weaponry to islands near the disputed sea border, it said. The defence ministry declined to comment. "It's seen as a reaction to the reinforcement of our weaponry on (frontline) islands," an unnamed military official told Yonhap. The North's bombardment of Yeonpyeong in November 2010 killed two South Korean Marines and two civilians and damaged scores of buildings. It was the first attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean war. Relations have been tense since Seoul accused its neighbour of torpedoing a South Korean warship in March 2010 near the Yellow Sea border, with the loss of 46 lives. The North denied sinking the ship, but South Korea has since staged a series of military drills alone or jointly with US troops. — AFP