The Navy launched a routine maneuvering exercise Tuesday in the Yellow Sea to prepare against possible North Korean maritime infiltration, an official said.
A Navy official said the one-day exercise took place in waters near Pyeongtaek Port, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul. It involved destroyer Sejong the Great, the South's first Aegis destroyer equipped with an integrated weapons control system, plus about 20 other destroyers, frigates, patrollers and high-speed boats.
Under the scenario of a North Korean submarine crossing the tense Northern Limit Line (NLL) sea border, the Navy also deployed the Lynx anti-ship helicopter and P-3C anti-submarine surveillance aircraft. An Air Force tactical aircraft and an Army helicopter also joined the exercise, the official said.
"The exercise was held under many different situations that could arise at sea," the official said. "It was also aimed at developing interoperability among units from all branches of the service."
The NLL, drawn by the U.N. forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, serves as a de facto maritime border between the Koreas, and waters near the line have seen deadly naval skirmishes and armed provocations by North Korea. Pyongyang refuses to recognize the NLL, and Seoul has rejected the North's demand that it be drawn farther south.(Yonhap)
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