Support for border island residents remains less than promised

By Jun Ji-hye

Complaints from residents of frontline islands located in the West Sea that live in constant fear of North Korea’s provocations came to the fore Monday, the fifth’s anniversary of the North’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in which two soldiers and two civilians were killed and 16 soldiers injured.

After the tragic incident, the government vowed to increase support for residents and strengthen the military deployed on the islands.

However, five years after the North’s bombardment, residents feel that support there is still insufficient. They said the government’s monthly support fund of 50,000 won per person is the only substantial support they have been able to feel.

Ongjin County Governor Cho Yoon-kil told reporters, “It is regrettable that complaints among residents have increased because the government’s promise to provide support has fizzled out. The government needs to additionally inspect what residents really want and establish more practical support plans.”

In 2011, the government announced that it would invest 910 billion won including private capital over the next 10 years to repair the damage done to the island after the North’s shelling, improve the aged housing and pay into a life safety fund for the residents.

However, only 250 billion won has been spent so far, with the government’s expenditure gradually decreasing from 42 billion won in 2011 to 23 billion won this year on general support for the islanders, including rebuilding damaged structures and other needs.

The military capabilities appear to still be insufficient to effectively defend against the North’s landing operations, as well.

After the shelling, the South Korean military increased the number of K9 self-propelled howitzers, Spike missiles and Cobra attack helicopters, but still uses old tanks produced in 1950s and anti-tank guns used during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Some observers say that if Pyongyang attempts a new wave of landing operations, it would be hard for South Korean armed forces to defend border islands with such old weaponry.

Meanwhile, the South went ahead with a live-fire artillery drill Monday as scheduled in waters off front-line islands close to the de-facto inter-Korean maritime border, the Northern Limit Line, despite North’s threats, government officials said. .

On Sunday, North Korea warned that it will retaliate “mercilessly” if the South fires artillery into North Korean waters.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesman Jeon Ha-kyu said that the North has not shown any sign of unusual moves so far, adding that the military is keeping a close watch on the situation.

Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok also said that the drill is part of regular military exercises and that if North Korea launches any provocations, Seoul will hit back immediately.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye