(LEAD) Army-drills
SEOUL, April 18 (Yonhap) — Earlier this week, the Army carried out an evening live-fire drill in Goseong County near the border, according to military statements released on Friday. This operation was aimed at enhancing preparedness for possible hostile actions from North Korea.
About 300 troops from the Army’s Third Corps took part in the exercise conducted Wednesday and Thursday in the coastal county of Goseong, some 160 kilometers northeast of Seoul, according to the Army.
It marked the first time that the Army has conducted such drills in a maritime buffer zone near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) since July last year.
The previous exercise took place a month after South Korea fully suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement in June, in the wake of North Korea’s trash balloon campaigns and attempts to disrupt GPS signals near border islands.
South Korea was able to restart exercises aimed at reinforcing frontline security after suspending them earlier. These drills include artillery and naval practices along with battalion-scale field operations, which were previously prohibited because of established terrestrial and marine demarcation areas. Additionally, restricted airspace close to the frontier had been implemented to avoid unintentional collisions between aircraft.
This week’s drills mobilized some 40 pieces of key equipment, including the K9A1 self-propelled howitzer, the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher and surveillance equipment, such as a counter-battery radar and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it added.
During the drill, soldiers identified a mock hostile action through their radar system and retaliated with fire. Subsequently, they verified the result utilizing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) before launching another round of rapid strikes as a demonstration of immediate combat power.
An army spokesperson stated that approximately 600 projectiles landed in the waters south of the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea.
“The Army will strive to establish a military readiness posture to respond overwhelmingly to any enemy provocation through practical education and training at combat sites,” it said.
The Army said safety guidelines were shared with the local community prior to the exercise and implemented during the drills in cooperation with the Coast Guard.
mlee@yna.co.kr
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