The South Korean Army reported today that it responded with live-fire maneuvers to the artillery tests carried out shortly before by North Korea in the Yellow Sea that led Seoul to order the evacuation of two of its border islands.
A statement issued by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reports that the 6th Marine Corps Brigade on Baeknyeong Island and the military unit on Yeonpyeong Island fired on a simulated target at sea, an exercise that was supervised. from a control center by Defense Minister Shin Won-sik.
Three hours earlier, North Korea fired hundreds of artillery rounds at 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.
"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 is a provocation that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and increases tension," 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.
"The maritime fire exercise seeks to respond to North Korea's provocation," the statement added, indicating that no more "unusual movements" by the northern army have been detected.
The South Korean islands of Baeknyeong and Yeonpyeong lie opposite the so-called Northern Limit Line (NLL), which serves as a disputed maritime border between the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea (called the West Sea in the two Koreas).
Drawn by the United Nations to avoid new clashes after the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953, the NLL is rejected by North Korea, which defends that the dividing line should be located further south.
The NLL 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 the bulk of the Northwest Islands Defense Command, established by Seoul in 2011 following the aforementioned attack on Yeonpyeong.
