Navy stages defense drills at Dokdo Island
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Navy's Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) agents are being released from an UH-60 helicopter over Dokdo, South Korea's eaternmost islets, in this 2013 file photo. / Korea Times file
By Lee Min-hyung
The Navy began a two-day regular exercise Monday to defend the nation's easternmost islets of Dokdo, deploying six warships and seven aircraft.
The biannual drill is aimed at defending Dokdo and its surrounding area as part of Seoul's show of its strong willingness to protect the territory from other countries, according to the Navy. For the regular exercise, the Navy has teamed up with the Marines Corp and the Korea Coast Guard.
The mobilized weapons include a 3,200-ton Yangmanchun destroyer, P-3C maritime patrol aircraft and F-15K fighter aircraft.
“The exercise has been conducted on a regular basis each year, and will be similar in scale to the previous one (conducted in December last year),” the Navy said.
Korea has staged the drill near the islets twice a year since 1986. The Navy has since focused on simulating outside forces' possible invasion scenarios of the islets and coming up with countermeasures against potential threats from other countries. Every time Korea conducts the exercise, it has drawn strong opposition from Japan.
After the announcement, Japan stepped up its criticism on Korea for carrying out the drill near the area. This is because Japan has for decades claimed a territorial claim over Dokdo.
On Tuesday, Japan's NHK reported its foreign ministry strongly protested against the military exercise, calling it “totally unacceptable.”
The Japanese national broadcaster also reported that Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed deep regret over the Dokdo defense drill by Korea. Tokyo also urged the Japanese embassy in Seoul to make an official complaint against Korea's foreign ministry, according to NHK.
The territorial dispute surrounding Dokdo has been a major bone of contention between Seoul and Tokyo, with Japan continuing to claim sovereignty over the islets through multiple channels including its textbook and diplomatic channels.
But Korea reiterated its will to hold the exercise as planned, as it is not aimed at provoking other countries, but for defending the national territory.
The nation's Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said Monday, “The drill is a regular exercise aimed at preventing outside forces from invading the area.”
The latest in a series of the Dokdo defense drill was conducted for two days from Dec. 28 last year. At that time, South Korea carried out its defense mission on Dokdo by deploying two F-15K fighter jets, maritime patrol aircraft and the 3,200-ton destroyer, Gwanggaeto the Great.