South Korea military to practice response to island attack by North

Tue, 04 Jan 2011

Seoul - South Korea plans to conduct military exercises this week aimed at deterring an attack by North Korea on any of the five islands near the neighbors' disputed border in the Yellow Sea, a media report said Tuesday.

The maneuvers involving the navy and marines, planned for Friday and Saturday, were to be the first of their kind, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing officials at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

They come on the heels of a November 23 artillery shelling of one of the islands, Yeonpyeong, which killed two South Korean soldiers and two civilians, ratcheted up tensions on the Korean Peninsula and prompted South Korea to send more troops and weapons to the five islands.

"This week's maneuvers are aimed at practicing our defense and ability to repel a surprise infiltration into one of the Yellow Sea border islands," an unnamed Joint Chiefs of Staff official was quoted as saying.

The officials did not say how many troops would be involved.

South Korea has held a series of military exercises since the Yeonpyeong attack, including three different exercises within one week in December. The maneuvers have irritated North Korea, which threatened a "sacred war of Korean-style justice" with nuclear weapons.

North Korea does not recognize the maritime border with South Korea drawn up by the United Nations after the 1950-53 Korean War. The conflict ended with a ceasefire, not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically still at war.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360629,response-island-attack-north.html.