2nd LD) S. Korean peacekeepers safe after mortar fire in Lebanon: official

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By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korean peacekeeping forces in Lebanon are
operating under an elevated alert after mortar fire hit their surrounding region
amid rising tensions between Israel and Lebanon-based militants, an official here
said Friday.
"The shells fell about 16 kilometers from where our troops are stationed," Park
Sung-woo, a spokesman at the Ministry of National Defense, said. "No damage has
been done."
Park said South Korea's Dongmyeong unit has independently elevated its threat
alert and banned all troops from leaving the base since the incident on Thursday
(Korean time).
"Our unit has raised its alarm level from yellow to red," Park said, adding the
shells hit an area controlled by Italian peacekeeing forces.
South Korea has some 360 troops stationed in Lebanon's southern city of Tyre as
part of the U.N. Interim Force In Lebanon, or UNIFIL.
Conflicts have flared along the Israel-Lebanon border since the 1970's, when
Palestinian commandos moved into Lebanon and conducted operations against Israel,
prompting reprisals.
About 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis were killed two years ago in a month-long
conflict between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, leaving 1 million Lebanese
homeless and the country riven.
Deployed in July last year, South Korea's Dongmyeong unit has performed patrol
missions and aided reconstruction efforts under the UNIFIL command set up to rein
in violence in the region.
The mortar fire on Thursday took place after several rockets were fired from
Lebanon into Israel earlier in the day, according to defense officials.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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