BEIJING // Pyongyang yesterday warned the Korean peninsula was "inching closer to the brink of war" as explosions increased tensions before South Korean and US naval exercises that start tomorrow.
The shots, thought to be the result of North Korean military drills, could be heard on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which suffered a barrage of shelling from North Korea on Tuesday that left four dead.
Photographers on the island reported hearing four explosions and seeing at least one flash of light, while South Korean television reports suggested North Korea had fired up to 20 rounds, causing residents to head for air-raid shelters.
It came as American naval forces headed for the Yellow Sea for exercises that have already drawn the anger of Pyongyang.
In an article yesterday, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency warned tensions were rising as a result of the actions of "the US imperialists and South Korean puppet war-like forces".
"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again the war exercises targeted against [North Korea]", the agency said.
North Korea's army and people were said to be "now greatly enraged" and "getting fully ready to give a shower of dreadful fire".
Shortly before the explosions were heard yesterday, the US military commander in South Korea, Gen Walter Sharp, visited Yeonpyeong to witness the devastation caused earlier in the week.
Gen Sharp saw a heavily damaged street littered with charred bicycles and bottles of the Korean alcoholic drink soju. Neighbourhoods were also strewn with broken glass and household items, while stray dogs begged for food from the few dozen civilian residents who remain from the original 1,300-strong civilian population.
Workers yesterday restored communications lines damaged by Tuesday's shellfire, which killed two civilians and two marines and was mostly targeted at the island's military base.
North Korea has insisted the barrage of about 200 shells was prompted by South Korean military drills, but Pyongyang's actions have been condemned by western powers and Japan.
Yesterday, Beijing held phone talks with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, China's foreign ministry reported, and China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi also spoke to his South Korean counterpart and met Pyongyang's ambassador to Beijing to discuss the situation.
Mr Yang urged Seoul and Pyongyang to exercise restraint and solve problems through dialogue, a ministry statement said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
"The pressing task now is to put the situation under control and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents," he said.
dbardsley@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by agencies
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Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
