S. Korean peacekeepers step up guard after mortar fire in Lebanon

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By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korean peacekeeping forces in Lebanon have ramped
up their patrol missions after mortar fire hit a region south of their base amid
rising tensions between Israel and Lebanon-based militants, officials 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, adding about
five hits were reported.
"No damage has been done," he said.
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.
Park said the Dongmyeong contingent has independently elevated its threat alert
to its second-highest level after the incident on Thursday (Korean time).
An officer who spoke by phone from Lebanon also said his troops have increased
patrol missions in response, even though the shells hit an area monitored by
Italian peacekeeping forces. He declined to be identified.
Conflicts have flared along the Israel-Lebanon border since the 1970s, 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 the 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.
Thursday's mortar fire took place after several rockets were fired from Lebanon
into Israel earlier in the day. Officials said UNIFIL is investigating those
suspected of provoking the armed exchange.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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