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| This Aug. 25, 2019 file photo shows Korea's first Aegis-equipped destroyer, the Sejong the Great, taking part in a defense exercise near Dokdo. Yonhap |
Korea conducted regular military drills last month to enhance defense capabilities of its easternmost islets of Dokdo, a defense official said Friday.
The exercise took place in waters near the islets late last month at a similar scale as the previous year, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity, without providing details.
Under the current Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which launched in May last year, the biannual drills have taken place in a relatively smaller scale, mobilizing Navy and Coast Guard vessels. The military has previously deployed Marines and Air Force aircraft for the exercise.
"The East Sea territory defense exercise was carried out to conduct our mission to protect our territory, people and property," the official said, using the official name of the drills.
Dokdo, which lies closer to Korea in the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, has long been a thorn in relations between the two countries. Korea keeps a small police detachment on the islets, effectively controlling them.
The latest drills came as relations between Korea and Japan have warmed significantly since March, when Seoul offered to resolve a row over wartime forced labor by compensating the Korean victims without asking for contributions from Japanese firms.
Korea launched the Dokdo drills in 1986 and has conducted them twice a year since 2003. (Yonhap)
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