 Defense Minister Kim Tae-young speaks about revised rules of engagement along the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea at a National Assembly session, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Won Yu-hun |
South Korea will launch counter-artillery fire if North Korea fires artillery shells south of the western sea border under revised rules of engagement, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said Tuesday.
Speaking at a National Assembly Defense Committee session, Kim revealed that the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s (JCS) engagement rules have been modified after North Korea launched an artillery barrage near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) earlier this month.
Kim’s remarks come as the military has been criticized for its poor response to the North’s latest artillery fire south of the NLL.
North Korea launched nearly 120 artillery shells toward the NLL, and some landed in the southern part of the sea border. But the South didn’t return fire after sending warning messages through naval hotlines.
Under the rules of engagement near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), South Korea is to respond immediately should the North fire shots south of the MDL. But engagement rules near the NLL were different from those near the MDL.
“Under the previous rules of engagement (near the NLL), we’re supposed to send warnings through hotlines and not return fire unless the North fires additional shots,” Kim said. “That’s different from engagement rules near the MDL, so we decided to revise the rules for naval exchanges to match those for skirmishes on the ground.”
When the North conducts attacks on South Korean territory, the South is obliged to return twice to three times the fire under the MDL engagement rules.
As for the threat of North Korea’s low-flying aircraft, Kim said his ministry is considering purchasing acoustic weapons locating systems.
He confirmed that North Korea had deployed an unmanned aerial vehicle near the NLL Aug. 9 after it launched a barrage of artillery fire.
“We’ve confirmed that the North has unmanned aircraft and is able to develop such weapons, but we believe the performances of the systems are not so good,” he said.
South and North Korea remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a permanent peace treaty.
