By Jun Ji-hye
Military and maritime police are planning to carry out a drill later this month to practice defense of the nation's easternmost islets of Dokdo in the event that the territory is invaded, military officials said Wednesday.
"The military and maritime police have set up a plan to conduct a two-day Dokdo defense drill in the East Sea and its surrounding waters at the end of this month," a naval officer said on condition of anonymity.
It will be the first drill conducted since the United States and Japan revised their defense guidelines on April 28, increasing concerns that Tokyo may return to a state of militarism.
The revision of the 1997 U.S.-Japan defense cooperation pact removes current geographic limits on the role of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, and expands its role globally to help U.S. forces in military emergencies.
Japan has recently renewed its territorial claims to Korea's rocky outcroppings of Dokdo in its middle school textbooks and Diplomatic Bluebook, enraging the Korean public.
"Authorities are expected to finalize the plan for the drill, which aims to repel forces that approach the islets via a sea or air route, by next week," the officer said. "The schedule could be changed in accordance with weather conditions though."
He added that the Navy's elite Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) and the Marine Corps are planning to participate in the drill that will also include a landing exercise by a squad of Marines on the rocky islets.
The planned exercise will involve five or six destroyers and convoys, as well as some fighters and patrol planes, according to officials.
Seoul has carried out the exercise twice a year since 1986 with the latest in November, with Tokyo expressing displeasure each time. Marines could not carry out the landing exercise in their latest drill due to bad weather.
In response to protests from Tokyo about Dokdo defense drills, Seoul has said that such claims are the equivalent to Japan's denial of Korea's independence from its 1910-45 colonial rule, as Seoul reclaimed sovereignty over all its territories ― including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula ― upon its independence.
In its 2014 Defense White Paper, the Ministry of National Defense claimed that Japan's territorial claim to Korea's Dokdo Islets is an obstacle that disrupts efforts by the two countries to foster future-oriented relations.
The paper stated that Seoul will "strictly cope with Tokyo's outrageous assertions" over its easternmost islets.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
Military and maritime police are planning to carry out a drill later this month to practice defense of the nation's easternmost islets of Dokdo in the event that the territory is invaded, military officials said Wednesday.
"The military and maritime police have set up a plan to conduct a two-day Dokdo defense drill in the East Sea and its surrounding waters at the end of this month," a naval officer said on condition of anonymity.
It will be the first drill conducted since the United States and Japan revised their defense guidelines on April 28, increasing concerns that Tokyo may return to a state of militarism.
The revision of the 1997 U.S.-Japan defense cooperation pact removes current geographic limits on the role of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, and expands its role globally to help U.S. forces in military emergencies.
Japan has recently renewed its territorial claims to Korea's rocky outcroppings of Dokdo in its middle school textbooks and Diplomatic Bluebook, enraging the Korean public.
"Authorities are expected to finalize the plan for the drill, which aims to repel forces that approach the islets via a sea or air route, by next week," the officer said. "The schedule could be changed in accordance with weather conditions though."
He added that the Navy's elite Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) and the Marine Corps are planning to participate in the drill that will also include a landing exercise by a squad of Marines on the rocky islets.
The planned exercise will involve five or six destroyers and convoys, as well as some fighters and patrol planes, according to officials.
Seoul has carried out the exercise twice a year since 1986 with the latest in November, with Tokyo expressing displeasure each time. Marines could not carry out the landing exercise in their latest drill due to bad weather.
In response to protests from Tokyo about Dokdo defense drills, Seoul has said that such claims are the equivalent to Japan's denial of Korea's independence from its 1910-45 colonial rule, as Seoul reclaimed sovereignty over all its territories ― including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula ― upon its independence.
In its 2014 Defense White Paper, the Ministry of National Defense claimed that Japan's territorial claim to Korea's Dokdo Islets is an obstacle that disrupts efforts by the two countries to foster future-oriented relations.
The paper stated that Seoul will "strictly cope with Tokyo's outrageous assertions" over its easternmost islets.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
