SEOUL (AFP) ? North Korea has intensified submarine drills near the tense Yellow Sea border with South Korea, putting Seoul defence officials on alert, a report said Thursday.
JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, citing a Seoul military source, said the North had been staging exercises involving five or six submarines at the Bipagot submarine base on its west coast since last month.
They feature the signature 325-tonne submarines as well as the new and bigger Shark-class submarines called K-300, it said.
"It's highly unusual for them to beef up submarine drills in March so we're intensely monitoring the situation," said the source.
Pyongyang has also started moving its military hovercraft from the northwest to a new naval base near the border to be completed in June, said another source quoted by the paper.
The new base at Koampo will make it possible for the North's troops to land via hovercraft on the South's border islands within 30 minutes, it said.
Seoul's defence minister said Tuesday the North may attempt surprise attacks across the sea border after practising marine infiltration drills.
Kim Kwan-Jin told lawmakers the drills began after the ice started to thaw. He warned of the possibility of "various types of surprise local provocations".
The disputed Yellow Sea border was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and November 2009.
The South also says a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo to sink one of its warships in March 2010 near the borderline, with the loss of 46 lives.
Pyongyang denies that attack. But last November it shelled a border island, leaving four South Koreans including two civilians dead and briefly sparking fears of war.
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