The army of South Korea reported today that it responded with live fire maneuvers to the artillery tests carried out shortly before by North Korea in it Yellow Sea which led Seoul to order the evacuation of two of its border islands.
A statement sent by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) South Korean reports that the 6th Marine Corps Brigade on the island of Baeknyeong and the military unit of the island of Yeonpyeong They fired on a simulated target at sea, an exercise that was supervised from a control center by the Minister of Defense, Shin Won-sik.
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three hours before North Korea fired hundreds of artillery rounds into the vicinity of both islands, prompting an evacuation order for civilian residents.
The exercise of the South Korean troops began at 3:00 p.m. local time (6:00 GMT), according to the JCS.
According to the images provided, these maneuvers involved K9 self-propelled guns and K1E1 tanks.
“After North Korea unilaterally declared the total suspension of the military agreement of September 19, it resumed artillery fire in the area this morning, which represents a provocation that threatens peace in the Korean Peninsula and the tension increases”Shin said, according to the statement.
Shin referred to the military agreement signed by the two Koreas on September 19, 2018, which was designed to reduce tension in border areas and which, among other things, prohibited live-fire maneuvers along the border.
“Maritime fire exercise seeks to respond to North Korea’s provocation“Adds the statement, which indicates that no more “unusual movements” have been detected by the northern army.
The South Korean islands of Baeknyeong and Yeonpyeong lie opposite the call Northern Limit Line (NLL), which serves as a disputed maritime border between the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea (called the West Sea in both Koreas).
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Traced by United Nations to avoid new clashes after the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean war In 1953, the NLL was rejected by North Korea, which argued that the boundary should be located further south.
The NLL It has been the scene of numerous clashes between the two Koreas, including the bombing of Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea in 2010 that left four South Koreans dead.
The two South Korean detachments that responded today with live-fire exercises constitute in fact the bulk of the North Western Islands Defense Commandset by Seoul in 2011 following the aforementioned attack on Yeonpyeong.
