The North has conducted shooting drills or used high-speed boats for landing exercises and has banned ships from some areas of the Yellow Sea until the end of July, Yonhap reported.

"North Korea has increased exercises using high-speed amphibious boats. We are not ruling out the possibility that North Korea may try to raid one of the islands," it quoted an unidentified defence source as saying.

Tensions have been running high for the past week after North Korea tested a nuclear bomb for the second time, launched a series of short-range missiles and warned that it could launch an attack on the South.

South Korea is on heightened alert for a possible repeat of the deadly naval clashes seen in 1999 and 2002 near the tense maritime border area.

A South Korean defence ministry spokesman told AFP on Monday that North Korea had stepped up military activities following its threat of a possible attack on the South.

"North Korean troops have been conducting more drills, especially along the west coast," the spokesman said.

He declined to confirm a Yonhap report that the North had doubled the storage of ammunition for artillery units and patrol boats along the west coast.

Pyongyang has warned it would take "additional self-defence measures" in response to any tougher international sanctions and South Korea said Monday that the North may be preparing another long-range missile test.

earlier related report
Seoul wins Southeast Asia support on NKorea as summit starts
South Korea won Southeast Asian backing for efforts to rein in nuclear-armed North Korea as it began a special summit with the region's leaders Monday amid tight security.

Seoul planned the summit to strengthen economic, political and cultural links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), correcting what analysts said had been an excessive diplomatic focus on Northeast Asia.

But North Korea has moved high up the agenda after it tested a nuclear bomb on May 25. It followed up by renouncing the armistice on the Korean peninsula and launching six short-range missiles, further increasing regional tensions.

South Korea says the North also appears to be readying a long-range missile test.

Leaders at the summit starting Monday afternoon and ending Tuesday will describe the test as "a provocative act" which "seriously undermines" regional and world peace, according to a press release from South Korea's presidential office.

The Thai, Indonesian and Laotian leaders have all criticised the test in bilateral meetings with host President Lee Myung-Bak, the office said.

Under the slogan "Partnership for real, friendship for good," South Korea has spared no effort to promote the event in the southern resort island of Jeju and ensure security for the 10 visiting leaders.

A surface-to-air missile unit has been set up next to the convention centre, 5,000 police have been deployed in Jeju and navy ships are patrolling the coast.

South Korea sees ASEAN's almost 600 million people as a market for its export-dominated economy that can offset the recession in developed countries.

Panitan Wattayanagorn, spokesman for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, told AFP the two sides need each other.

"Time is critical as ASEAN needs a close partner, and vice versa, to be able to deal effectively with the impact of the economic crisis," Panitan said.

Resource-poor South Korea is also eyeing the bloc's abundant raw materials.

ASEAN is already South Korea's third-largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth around 90 billion dollars last year, and its second-largest destination for overseas investment.

Korean investment in the region was worth 5.86 billion dollars last year.

The figures will rise further when the two sides on Tuesday sign an investment pact, completing negotiations on a free trade agreement which began in 2005.

"South Korea's Asian diplomacy has focused too much on Northeast Asia, largely Japan and China. It has actually paid too little attention to Southeast Asia despite its huge potential," said Cho Hung-Guk, a Southeast Asia expert at Pusan National University.

The issue of ASEAN's most troublesome member Myanmar is also likely to be aired.

Abhisit, the current ASEAN chair, is trying to convene a meeting of its leaders later Monday on the sidelines of the summit, diplomatic sources say.

The Thai prime minister said in Bangkok Sunday that Aung San Suu Kyi's trial, which has drawn strong international condemnation, would be discussed.

Myanmar's junta has charged the pro-democracy leader with violating the terms of her house arrest after an uninvited American swam to her lakeside home.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. This week's summit marks the 20th anniversary of a formal dialogue between the bloc and South Korea.

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