South Korea's Planned Live-Fire Military Exercises Have Begun, According to Country's Ministry of Defense | Updates

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/20/blitzer-korean-tensions-eased-significantly...

Wolf Blitzer: Korean tensions 'eased significantly'

December 20th, 2010
08:52 PM ET

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (far right) has been in Pyongyang, North Korea, covering New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s (center) diplomatic talks with the North Koreans. He was the only journalist on Richardson’s trip to North Korea. He spoke via phone Monday evening to CNN's Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.

Crowley: Joining me now is Wolf Blitzer from Pyongyang. He's been over there covering New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in these delicate, delicate times for North Korea. Give me a sense when you first learned and how you first learned that North Korea was backing off and would not retaliate against the South for the South’s live fire exercises?

Blitzer: “It's interesting. Candy - throughout the days that I was here covering Richardson's talks, and he met with top-ranking North Korean officials, I kept hearing some - at least private comments to me as a reporter - that seemed to be a little bit more moderate, a little bit more responsible than some of the earlier statements that they made for propaganda purposes. But I assumed that once the South Koreans began their live-fire exercise on this island, that the North Koreans would respond militarily with some sort of retaliation - that's the statement going into the exercise that the North Korean military had made. I assume when they make a statement like that, they’re not going to back down.

It was not only encouraging, but surprising to me, at least, when they formally said, ‘You know what? We're not going to respond militarily. Right now, it's not worth it.’ With hindsight, I think it came on the heels of the North Koreans agreeing to some of Richardson’s proposals to create a hot line – at least they were receptive to creating a military-to-military hot line between North and South Korea - a joint military commission involving the U.S. and both Koreas as well as allowing international atomic agency monitors to come back and start inspecting the nuclear facility.

So there was a series of steps that were coming through. At least in the statements the North Koreans were making to me, they seemed more moderate. But I was still surprised when they formally announced they weren't going to retaliate. That seemed to be a new opening. And maybe there's a new chapter. But of course, we'll have to wait and see.

Crowley: When you talk about the things that Bill Richardson, the outgoing governor of New Mexico proposed, he has no official standing with the administration. They clearly know he’s on this trip, they’ll clearly debrief him when he gets back. But when he says things like 'OK there should be a hot line, and you should do this or that,' is there anything that he - the governor - knows that says to him that South Korea will go along with these things if the administration is on board or is this pure freelancing?

Blitzer: I don't think it's pure freelancing. Certainly the North Koreans don't consider him to be a freelancer even though he's here as a private citizen. The Obama administration said to him if you want to go, go. Six months ago, they said to him “don’t go” after the torpedo destruction of that South Korean warship the Cheonan that killed 46 South Korean families.

At that point, he was invited and the Obama administration said “don't go.” He didn’t go. This time they didn’t tell him not to go, so he’s here. I think they look at him as a United States official, basically, and all of the meetings that I covered, it seems like a government-to-government meeting. He's there at the table with two or three aides and they’ve got a whole team on the other side of the table with note takers. It looks very, very formal.

These meetings he’s having are anything but informal. I’m sure he’ll go back, brief the Obama administration on what happened, what he saw, what he learned. I assume it will be useful for the Korean experts in Washington. I think he leaves here encouraged by the specific proposals that they accepted but more importantly that they refrained from escalating this crisis.

This could have been a disaster. This is the most dangerous spot on Earth right now. One million North Korean forces over the DMZ. On the other side, hundreds of thousands of South Korean forces, 30,000 American soldiers in between, not only with artillery, rockets, but nuclear weapons. This thing could have escalated, it could have exploded, a tinderbox as Richardson kept calling it. The fact that it's calm now, quiet for the time being, it’s not over with by any means, but it's been eased significantly. I think it's encouraging.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/20/koreas.tensions/index.html?hpt=T2

N. Korea offers no retaliation for drill, agrees to measures
By the CNN Wire Staff

PART ONE...

December 20, 2010 4:50 p.m. EST

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea did not retaliate as threatened Monday after a South Korean military exercise that it had warned could lead to war.

At the same time, the North agreed to allow U.N. monitors access to its uranium-enrichment facility and take other steps that could defuse tension if implemented, including considering the formation of a military commission made up of representatives from the North, the South and the United States.

Those steps generated at least the possibility of rare optimism on the Korean peninsula, which has been gripped by anxiety since the sinking of a South Korean warship killed 46 sailors in March. Tensions rose higher last month, when North Korea shelled a South Korean island, killing four people.

The latest developments came amid a visit to North Korea by Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and current governor of New Mexico.

"Maybe we had a little impact with them," he said Monday of the North Korean leaders.

In advance of South Korea's live-fire naval drill, North Korea had warned that the action could ignite a war and threatened to respond militarily.

The exercise ended peacefully, however, after an hour and 34 minutes. North Korean military leaders said retaliation wasn't necessary but issued a stern warning to South Korea and the United States, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Yet Richardson said the North also has agreed to allow monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency access to the nation's uranium-enrichment facility and to negotiate a deal for a third party, such as South Korea, to buy fresh-fuel rods from North Korea.

In addition, North Korean leaders said they would discuss the formation of a military commission consisting of representatives from North Korea, South Korea and the United States to monitor and prevent conflicts in the disputed areas of the West Sea.

The fact that Pyongyang agreed to consider engaging in a multilateral dialogue with other nations through the commission is significant, said Han Park, a professor at the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs and director of the university's Globis Center for the Study of Global Issues.

Dialogue between the North and South alone is "less desirable, because the two are very highly emotionally charged. It's like a family feud, if you will," said Park, a frequent visitor to North Korea who has close, regular contact with high-ranking North Korean officials. That's why the addition of other nations -- the United States and possibly even China -- is necessary, he said.

Such a commission would be likely to discuss one of the most pressing issues, the boundary in territorial waters, he said: "I think that will continue to be a source of problems." Topics like North Korea's nuclear program also could be discussed, he said.

The United States' political will to deal directly with North Korea is also important, he said: "The U.S. should not be a hostage of South Korean politics or policy."

There also was talk about creating a hot line between the two nation's militaries "to avert potential crises," according to a statement from Richardson. But Park noted that hot lines have previously been in place, and when tensions escalate, both sides will cut off the line.

Richardson and others emphasized to North Korean leaders that failing to retaliate after the exercise would cast them in a positive light, he said.

"I am encouraged by the news that North Korea will not react militarily to South Korea's drills," Richardson said in the statement. "During my meetings in Pyongyang, I repeatedly pressed North Korea not to retaliate.

"The result is that South Korea was able to flex its muscles, and North Korea reacted in a statesmanlike manner. I hope this will signal a new chapter and a round of dialogue to lessen tension on the Korean peninsula."

Park said he believes that the lack of retaliation by North Korea, while "a welcome sign," is a strategic move aimed at good public relations.

"They were taking the high road, so to speak," he said. "I think they're trying to win the hearts and minds of the people in South Korea as well as around the world." Public relations is "very high on North Korea's agenda," he added.

The U.S. State Department welcomed the North's muted response.

"This is the way countries are supposed to act," U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "The South Korean exercise was defensive in nature. The North Koreans were notified in advance. There was no basis for a belligerent response."

Asked whether North Korea could be waiting for its southern neighbor to drop its guard before retaliating, Richardson acknowledged to CNN that is possible but said he thinks the fact that Pyongyang "took responsible action" shows they are moving into a new chapter.

"I think they deserve credit for holding back," he said. "I think North Korea may be sending a signal that they're ready to re-engage after having behaved very negatively."

CONTINUED...

.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12039477

Well, North Korea states that they won't retaliate

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/20/koreas.tensions/t1main.kor...

UPDATE...

S. Korea's live-fire drill ends calmly; country still on high alert
By the CNN Wire Staff

December 20, 2010 3:58 a.m. EST

Tension between the Koreas

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* NEW: The drills are "natural" for a sovereign country, president's office says
* North Korea does not act immediately after South Korea's drill ends
* South Korean fighter jets prepare for possible retaliation by North Korea
* The South says it needs to assess the North's motivation in agreeing to allow nuclear inspectors

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- After days of concern about possible North Korean aggression over a South Korean military drill, the live-fire naval exercise ended peacefully after an hour and 34 minutes with no immediate reaction from the North.

North Korea said over the weekend that the drill could ignite a war and that it would respond militarily to the exercise, but the country did not act immediately on Monday.

The North, however, agreed to a series of actions after former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson urged the country not to respond aggressively.

During the drill, fighter jets took to the sky in preparation for possible retaliation by North Korea, the South Korean defense ministry said.

The South Korean military remained on high alert after the drill ended and is observing the North carefully, the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

"In a divided country that is militarily pitted against each other, it is natural that as a sovereign country, we will conduct military exercises and defend our territory," the South Korean president's office said.

The military exercise took place in waters just south of Yeonpyeong Island, where a North Korean shelling on November 23 killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.

The North has accused the South of provoking the attack because shells from a South Korean military drill landed in the North's waters.

South Korea has not said whether any additional naval drills are imminent.

On Sunday, South Korea ordered thousands to find shelter in preparation for the drill while the United Nations' Security Council wrangled for nearly eight hours over growing tensions in the Korean peninsula before ending its emergency meeting without a unified statement.

About 8,000 residents were ordered to take cover in Yeonpyeong, Baengnyeong, Daecheong, Socheong and Udo in the hours leading up to the drill.

North Korea said over the weekend that the planned exercises were designed to violate the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953 and "ignite war at any cost."

Saying the exercises would be in "the inviolable territorial waters" of North Korea, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency warned Saturday that its forces "will deal the second and third unpredictable self-defensive blow" if the drills proceed.

But Richardson said he urged North Korea not to take aggressive steps, said CNN's Wolf Blitzer, who is traveling with Richardson.

During his five-day unofficial trip to North Korea, Richardson has been meeting with high-level officials.

In the meetings, North Korea agreed to a series of actions, including the return of U.N. inspectors and to consider Richardson's proposal for a military commission between the United States, North Korea and South Korea.

Meanwhile, China asked the two Koreas to exercise "maximum restraint," state media reported Monday.

China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Wang Min made the statement during the Security Council meeting. His comments were reported by China's state-run Xinhua news agency Monday.

Wang also reiterated China's previous call for both sides to return to the negotiating table.

China is the isolated North's sole major ally and provides it with a crucial fuel and food lifeline.

CNN's Kyung Lah and Jiyeon Lee in Seoul; and Richard Roth and Whitney Hurst at the United Nations contributed to this report.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/ap_korea_101219_ms.jpg

BREAKING NEWS...

South Korea conducts firing drills from border island shelled by North Korean attack
The Associated Press

By AHN YOUNG-JOON and HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea December 20, 2010 (AP)

South Korea began live-fire drills Monday from a front-line island shelled last month by North Korea, in defiance of the North's threats to attack again.

The Defense Ministry said the drills started Monday at 0530 gmt from this tiny enclave of fishing communities and military bases only about seven miles (11 kilometers) from North Korean shores.

The North shelled the island on Nov. 23 after similar drills, killing two marines and two civilians.

The North considers the waters around Yeonpyeong its own territory and has threatened to retaliate for any new drills.

South Korea's military said ahead of Monday's drills that it will "immediately and sternly" deal with any North Korean provocation.

South Korea ordered residents of front-line islands into bomb shelters. An Associated Press Television News cameraman heard the sounds of explosions Monday afternoon.

U.N. diplomats meeting in New York failed to find any solution to ease fears of a new war on the Korean peninsula, nearly a month after the North shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island in retaliation for earlier artillery exercises there. The North has said it would respond even more harshly to any new drills from the Yellow Sea island.

South Korea's new drills from Yeonpyeong brought tensions to their highest point since the North's Nov. 23 bombardment, which was the North's first attack targeting civilian areas since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Residents, local officials and journalists Yeonpyeong and four other islands were ordered to evacuate to underground shelters because of possible attacks by North Korea, Ongjin County government spokesman Won Ji-young said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/19/AR2010121900633....

Washington Post...

South Korea edges closer to live-fire drills as U.N. council holds emergency meeting

By Chico Harlan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 19, 2010; 9:46 PM

SEOUL - South Korea plans to conduct its live-fire drills on Yeonpyeong Island on Monday, despite North Korean threats of retaliation and mounting international efforts to prevent an intra-peninsular showdown.

South Korean military officials on Sunday reiterated their intention to hold the drills Monday or Tuesday, depending on clear weather, setting up a potential crisis that the U.N. Security Council was unable to resolve during a closed-door emergency meeting that lasted more than eight hours Sunday evening. North Korea has said that if Seoul goes ahead with the artillery drills on Yeonpyeong Island - seven miles from the North Korean coast - it will lead to "catastrophe."

With the drills soon to be conducted, barring a last-minute cancellation, South Korea has taken emergency preparations, equipping a fleet of fighter jets with surface-to-air missiles that can strike the North Korean coast if Pyongyang follows through on its threat to unleash "unpredictable self-defensive blows." On Yeonpyeong Island, the few remaining residents have been instructed to take cover in air raid shelters.

A Russian effort to persuade South Korea to halt plans to conduct military exercises and to launch a U.N. mediation effort collapsed Sunday after the 15-nation council was unable to reach agreement on a Russian draft proposal that called for those initiatives.

The United States, which has the presidency of the council this month, insisted that any statement include a clear condemnation of North Korea's Nov. 23 attack on Yeonpyeong, which left four South Korean nationals dead, and recall the torpedoing of the South Korean naval vessel the Cheonan. U.S. officials said China blocked language condemning North Korea, or allowing even a mention of the island.

Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly I. Churkin, said that he had made a personal appeal during the meeting to the South Korean delegation "to refrain from conducting the [military] exercise at this particular time." He also expressed frustration that council was unable to reach agreement on a statement that sent the same message. "We reiterated our calls for restrain on both parties, in no uncertain times," he said. "We were not successful in bridging all the bridges."

Seoul drew fierce domestic criticism for its feeble response to North Korea's Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, an attack that killed two marines and two civilians. Since then South Korea has replaced its defense minister and increased its aggressive rhetoric, vowing airstrikes if Pyongyang attacks again.

The State Department has defended Seoul's right to hold the drills, and about 20 U.S. military members will take part in the live-fire drill. But China has spoken out against the drills, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu urging "dialogue rather than confrontation."

"As China has repeatedly stressed, if conflict and bloodshed happen on the Peninsula, the first to suffer would be people on both sides of the Peninsula," Jiang said, in remarks posted Sunday on China's Foreign Ministry Web site. "It will also certainly undermine peace and stability in the region and affect neighboring countries."

Given the tension, analysts fear that a slight miscalculation in Seoul or Pyongyang could lead to war. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), in the middle of a four-day trip to Pyongyang, has fashioned himself as a private peacekeeper, and on Sunday he met with North Korean Maj. Gen. Pak Rim Su, who advises on the policy of the powerful National Defense Commission.

According to Richardson, speaking in an interview with CNN, he offered Pak two suggestions: He recommended a military-to-military hotline between North and South Korea, and he proposed a military commission featuring representatives from Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington. Richardson said Pak seemed "very open" to the ideas.

"I urged the general to listen to the United Nations Security Council when it meets on Sunday," Richardson said. "Hopefully they will exercise restraint. And that will be an opportunity for North Korea to cool down, to tamp down - for all sides to tamp down."

South Korea, if it goes ahead with the live-fire drills, promises to fire south - away from North Korean territory. But North Korea considers the waters around Yeonpyeong Island as its own, and disputes legitimacy of the Northern Limit Line that serves as a maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

Staff writer Column Lynch in New York contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/19/south.korea.yeonpyeong.island/index....

Residents of South Korean island fleeing ahead of military drills
From Kyung Lah, CNN
December 19, 2010 6:25 p.m. EST

Older residents prepare to board a ferry on the South Korea-controlled island of Yeonpyeong on Sunday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* Residents of Yeonpyeong Island are caught in the middle of Korean tensions
* South Korea has said it will hold live-fire drills next week near the island
* Villagers are afraid North Korea will make good on its threat to retaliate

Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea (CNN) -- Amid South Korean plans to hold live-fire military drills this week and North Korean threats of retaliation, many residents of Yeonpyeong Island are evacuating, afraid of being caught in the middle.

Villagers streamed onto what they believed was the last ferry to Incheon, South Korea, on Sunday, carrying what belongings they could. Some were holding their children as others helped the elderly.

"I'm leaving because they said the drills are tomorrow," said Kim Ok Jin, 66.

Kim said the island was once a good place to live and she does not want to leave.

"Of course I'm angry," she said. "But that's not going to change anything."

Many Yeonpyeong residents are evacuating for a second time. This time, however, they have warning. On November 23, they had none before North Korea began shelling the island. Two civilians and two South Korean Marines died in the attack.

The South Korean military said Thursday that its drills will take place in the seas southwest of Yeonpyeong Island between December 18 and 21, but bad weather forced a delay Saturday. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the drills will take place Monday or Tuesday in the Yellow Sea off the island.

As villagers departed, few signs of life remained on the island -- only military trucks patrolling and waiting for possible North Korean retaliation for the drills.

Not everyone on Yeonpyeong, however, was leaving. Song Young Ok said she has not been told to stop selling tickets for the ferry off the island, and doesn't know when the military drills will take place.

Song said she is planning to stay put, holed up along with others in a military bunker.

She said she doesn't know why it has to be this way -- if South Korea carries out the drills, North Korea has threatened to retaliate even more strongly. South Korea's insistence on conducting the drills is picking a fight, she said.

Others were more optimistic. "It's OK," said ferry passenger Lee Chun Nyeo, 83. "The soldiers need to do (the exercises), right?"

Yeonpyeong is located just south of the Northern Limit Line, the line drawn in 1953 by the United Nations just after the Korean War. The U.N. drew the line three nautical miles from the North Korean coast and put five islands close to the coast under South Korean control.

That was supposed to be a temporary arrangement. But in the absence of a full peace agreement, the Northern Limit Line remains in place.

North Korea has suggested an alternative line, but South Korea has resisted, as it would bring the North's maritime boundary close to Incheon, a main port.

Waters in the Yellow Sea are important for fishing and crab. For North Korean fishermen especially, the blue crab season between June and September is an important source of income. Crabs have a habit of migrating south during that time, so the water is sometimes crowded with boats from both countries, as well as vessels from China. However, the Yellow Sea has seen armed clashes in the past few years, the most serious of them in 1999 and 2002.

China and Russia have asked South Korea to reconsider holding the drills. Russia called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday.

CNN's Tim Lister contributed to this report.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12033330

19 December 2010 Last updated at 19:57 ET

BBC....................

The South Korean military will begin live-firing exercises on an island close to the border with North Korea in the coming hours, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The move comes despite repeated threats of retaliation from Pyongyang.

Four people were killed when the North shelled the island during an earlier drill last month.

The UN Security Council has been discussing the situation in New York, but has failed to reach any agreement.

Speaking to reporters after more than eight hours of discussions, Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin called on South Korea to cancel its plans.

"It's better to refrain from doing this exercise at this point in time," he said.

He said the UN had failed to reach an agreement on the crisis, but contacts would be pursued between the main powers.

The issue has threatened to divide permanent members of the Security Council - with China and Russia urging South Korea to put off the exercise, but the US saying its ally is entitled to make sure it is "properly prepared in the face of... ongoing provocations".

The US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said it was "safe to predict that the gaps that remain are unlikely to bridged."

South Korea had said the exercise would begin some time before Tuesday, with the exact date depending on weather conditions.

But on Monday residents on the island of Yeonpyeong were told to move into air-raid shelters - part of regular procedure ahead of military exercises in the area.

Pyongyang has said it will retaliate if the South goes ahead with the exercise on Yeonpyeong - which is close to the two countries' disputed sea border, the Northern Limit Line, and within view of the North Korean mainland.

It says it will deal an "unpredictable self-defensive blow" at the South Koreans, "deadlier" than when the North shelled the island during similar live-fire exercises on 23 November.
Map

Two civilians and two marines were killed in that clash.

An unofficial US envoy - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson - is in North Korea and has held several meetings with senior officials there. The situation is "very, very tense, a crisis situation", he told CNN.

He was speaking after meeting North Korean Maj Gen Pak Rim-su, who leads North Korean forces along the border with the South.

That meeting was "very tough", but "some progress" was made, Mr Richardson said.

"They said there would be a response, but at the same time they hope a UN Security Council resolution would tamp down the situation. It was very clear they were very upset by the potential exercise," he told CNN from Pyongyang.

He suggested a military hotline be set up to address incidents along their border.
Tightrope

The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says the Obama administration in a tough spot, as the US has 28,000 troops stationed in the South and it would almost certainly be drawn in if hostilities erupt.

The US is walking a diplomatic tightrope, trying to avoid that unfavourable option while remaining a strong ally to the South, our correspondent adds.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Saturday that artillery guns on Yeonpyeong will be aimed south-west and away from North Korea for the drill, reported South Korean news agency Yonhap.

But the North claims any ammunition fired would inevitably land in its territorial waters.

In the event of an attack from the North, the South's Air Force would put its F-15K and KF-16 fighters on emergency standby, Yonhap quoted the JCS as saying, adding the exact timing of the drill will be announced hours before it begins, depending on weather conditions.

The island is normally home to some 1,300 residents along with hundreds of marines, but most civilians have fled to the mainland, leaving only about 100 remaining, Yonhap said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/world/asia/20korea.html?hp

The New York Times

December 19, 2010
U.N. Meets as South Korean Military Plans Artillery Drill

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and SHARON LAFRANIERE

The United Nations Security Council met in emergency session that endured into the evening on Sunday to seek ways to defuse tensions on the Korean peninsula, as the South Korean military reaffirmed its plans to carry out live-fire artillery exercises on Monday that the North has said could lead to “catastrophe.”

As the Sunday’s Security Council session wore on, it became something of a deadlock between China, which did not want a specific condemnation of North Korea, and the other 14 members of the security council, which did, according to Security Council diplomats.

In Seoul early Monday, the Yonhap news agency reported that the joint chiefs of staff had restated the South’s intention to carry out the planned drill, which had been delayed over the weekend by bad weather. “The military has decided to conduct the firing drill today,” Yonhap quoted a military an official with the joint chiefs as saying, but noting that the timing would still “depend on the weather.”

Officials were warning residents of Yeonpyeong Island, the site of the planned drill, to seek refuge, Yonhap reported.

Over the weekend, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a former United States ambassador to North Korea, met in Pyongyang with military officials and offered proposals for better communication.

Russia and China have called on Seoul to cancel the drill. Russia, which called the Security Council session, released a text noting the “dangerous aggravation” on the Korean peninsula. South Korea’s allies, including the United States, Britain, France and Japan, considered that a veiled criticism of Seoul’s continued military maneuvers. China had endorsed the Russian position, diplomats said.

“They are implying the South Koreans are doing something which they should not, while we view the drills as perfectly within their rights and something they have done countless times,” said one Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations among the 15 council members were still taking place. “It is the D.P.R.K. that is in violation of international law.”

The United States and its allies began pushing for wording that, while calling for calm, would also note what the diplomat called “repeated North Korean aggression and violations” rather than just equating the two sides.

The draft text had also called for all parties concerned to “avoid any steps which could cause a further escalation of tension in the Korean peninsula and the entire region.” It requested that the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, send a special representative to North and South Korea for consultations to settle the current crisis.

Mr. Ban, as a South Korean, has had difficulty establishing dialogue with the highest levels of government in Pyongyang. At a news conference on Friday, he called North Korea’s shelling attack a month ago “one of the gravest provocations” since the end of the Korean war.

The officials who met Mr. Richardson over the weekend included Maj. Gen. Pak Rim-su. General Pak is a member of North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission and oversees the demilitarized zone and the armistice between the two Koreas that ended the Korean War in 1953 with an armistice.

Mr. Richardson made two proposals: a military-to-military hot line and a military commission that would include the United States, South Korea and North Korea, to monitor crises like these in the Yellow Sea.

A previous channel of communication, in the so-called truce village of Panmunjom, was severed this year as tensions grew over the sinking of a South Korean warship. The governments are now limited to leaving messages for each other at an unofficial office at a jointly operated industrial park inside North Korea.

Mr. Richardson said that General Pak was open to the suggestion of the military hot line and the commission, but that he did not accept them. “Obviously this is a little bit of progress,” Mr. Richardson said. His trip was approved by the State Department, although he stressed that he was not an official administration envoy.

Before meeting with General Pak, Mr. Richardson said that, “The fact that the U.N. Security Council is taking up the Korea issue is important because it will not only help to ease tension, but will also be able to provide cover for all sides not to take aggressive action.” He added, “The fact that Russia has proposed the emergency action, and the fact that China has said that the situation is precarious means that North Korea’s main allies on the Security Council are urging restraint.”

North Korea said through its official news agency, K.C.N.A., that it would retaliate if the South Korean drill went ahead and that it would strike the South with “unpredictable self-defensive blows.” The principal North Korean newspaper, Rodong Sinum, warned that the artillery drill would lead to “brutal consequences beyond imagination,” in a commentary quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Mr. Richardson said North Korean leaders were “very concerned about the artillery efforts.”

When asked what would North Korea do if the exercises went forward, Mr. Richardson said General Pak “didn’t answer directly, but I was very concerned with some of the statements that came forth.” But he added that General Pak “was not threatening.”

“He was not belligerent,” Mr. Richardson said. “He was positive. He realized the gravity of the situation.”

Seoul has said the exercise will be held on Yeonpyeong Island, near a disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea. The island, which lies just eight miles off the North Korean coast, was the target of a North Korean artillery barrage on Nov. 23 that killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.

The North said the shelling was a retaliation for South Korea having fired into its waters. The South said the attack by the North was unprovoked.

North Korea does not recognize the sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line. The waters off Yeonpyeong are North Korea’s “inviolable territorial waters,” the North said in a statement quoted by K.C.N.A.

“They claim it’s their territory,” Mr. Richardson said.

About two dozen United States military personnel are expected to take part in the artillery drill, in support roles and as observers. The North said the Americans were being used as a “human shield.”

General Pak also told Mr. Richardson that the remains of hundreds of American soldiers killed during the Korean War were recently discovered in the North, and that he hoped a joint recovery effort could resume.

Analysts said Sunday that it was unclear if meteorology or diplomacy had delayed the drill.

Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor of political science at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts, said the South Korean government had failed to mount a strong response to the first North Korean shelling and thus had “put itself in a bind.”

“Hence, the obfuscation about the drills,” Professor Lee said. “Were such military exercises so dependent on the vagaries of the wind and currents, how on earth would a sovereign state defend itself?”

Sharon LaFraniere reported from Pyongyang and Neil MacFarquhar reported from New York. Mark McDonald contributed reporting from Seoul, South Korea.