The South Korean military began weeklong maritime live-fire drills in 29 places in the West, East and South Seas on Monday while renewing its vow to take swift and strong retaliatory action against any further North Korean provocations. The drills, whose locations include Daecheong Island, one of the five major islands near the western sea border, came after the North’s artillery shelling of Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 23 sent tensions on the peninsula soaring. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this week’s drills will not take place in waters off Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong Islands where fears of another North Korean attack have been great since the bombardment there killed four South Koreans including two civilians. The military is also planning to stage another live-fire exercise on Yeonpyeong Island soon.
The North fired coastal artillery shells at the island after it berated the live-fire exercise there on Nov. 23, warning of “physical retaliatory strikes.” In a meeting with reporters, new Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said, “We will conduct (the live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong Island) after taking into account weather and other various conditions.” “The drill is to take place in our waters where we have usually staged the drill. We will take efficiency and convenience into consideration (in deciding when the exercise can be staged).” Kim brushed off the continuing North Korean threats against the drill, saying that they are not “worth considering.” “I don’t care about North Korean responses and they are not worth considering. North Korea has always been like that,” Kim said.
On Sunday, the reclusive state issued a statement denouncing this week’s live-ammunition maneuvers, accusing the South of being “hell-bent on the moves to escalate the confrontation and start a war.”
