Anchor: As U.S. citizens prepare to cast their ballots to elect a new president, military authorities in South Korea are not ruling out the possibility that North Korea could wage a provocation. As intelligence and satellite imagery indicated recently that the North is indeed ready to provoke, the South Korean military has been maintaining a firm readiness posture.
Mina Cha has more.
 
Report: The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) says it is keeping a close eye on North Korea with the U.S. presidential election right around the corner.

[Sound bite: Jeon Ha-gyu, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman (Korean)]
"Keeping in mind that North Korea could conduct a strategic or tactical provocation, we are staying vigilant and maintaining a firm readiness posture."
 
JCS Spokesman Jeon Ha-gyu explained Monday that the chance is high that the North will attempt to provoke ahead of the election, given Pyongyang's track record of timing provocative actions around significant political events.
 
Recently, the North has been observed to be moving mobile launching vehicles carrying Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles near the Banghyeon Airfield in North Pyongan Province, where the regime's previous attempt to launch a Musudan missile resulted in failure on October 20th.
 
Amid growing speculations of an imminent provocation, JCS Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin visited major military commands to check on troops' readiness.
 
[Sound bite: Gen. Lee Sun-jin, JCS Chairman (Korean)]
"No matter when, where and how North Korea conducts provocation, we will sternly and forcibly deal with it."
 
Earlier, Defense Minister Han Min-koo sent a letter to chief commanders, calling for an unshakable readiness posture against the North.
Mina Cha, KBS World Radio News.

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