South Korea - The Korea Times

Seoul plans live-fire drill next week

Allies brace for N. Korean provocation after 4-day exercise By Jung Sung-ki Following the end of the four-day “high-intensity” joint naval exercise by the United States and South Korea in the West Sea, Wednesday, allied forces are bracing for further provocative acts by North Korea. The concern comes as South Korea’s marines are considering holding a live-fire exercise next week. The Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island occurred after the South held such a drill near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea border in the West Sea. After the joint exercise, the South Korean military will remain on the highest alert, according to the JCS. Col. Kim Young-cheol at the JCS operations bureau told reporters that military authorities of the South and United States were in consultations to hold more joint naval drills in waters west of the Korean Peninsula, in an effort to deter Pyongyang’s provocative actions. “We have been in consultations with the U.S. to carry out several joint military drills to deal with provocation by the enemy later this month or early next

Dec 1, 2010

Allies hold interdiction drill

Field commanders to be granted greater leeway in counterattacks By Jung Sung-ki South Korean and U.S. naval ships staged a maritime ship interdiction drill Tuesday to prevent the possible transfer of illegal weapons and related materials on the third day of their high-profile exercise off the west coast, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). Fighter jets flew off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in joint maneuvers involving about 10 other warships and 7,300 military personnel from the two countries. The four-day drills that started Sunday are in response to North Korea’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island near the western sea border, killing two marines and two civilians. “We are holding maritime interdiction and air defensive drills as a key part of the third day of exercises,” a JCS spokesman said. “In particular, a search-and-seize exercise is under way to enhance our ability to inspect ships suspected of transporting weapons of mass destruction.” The official said the maritime interdiction drill is based on a scenario that a Nor

Nov 30, 2010

New defense ministry spokesman named

By Jung Sung-ki The Ministry of National Defense has named former defense specialist reporter Kim Min-seok of the Joongang Ilbo as its new spokesman, the ministry announced Monday. Kim, 52, served as a chief researcher at the state-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses between 1982 and 1994 before joining the daily. He graduated from the engineering and business management department of Ulsan University and completed an M.A. and Ph. D. in the business management department of Korea University in Seoul in 1992 and 2002, respectively.

Nov 29, 2010

Seoul vows naval, air strikes on NK

US F/A-18 fighters conduct precision strike exercises By Jung Sung-ki Outgoing Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said Monday that fighter jets and warships of South Korean and U.S. forces will immediately strike North Korean targets should the North launch an attack on the South’s soil again. Kim’s remarks at a parliamentary session came as the allies were conducting high-profile naval and air strike drills in waters off Taean, about 170 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on the second day of a four-day joint exercise. “Once the rules of engagement are revised, the Navy and Air Force will be allowed to conduct strikes (on North Korean targets),” Kim said at the National Assembly’s Budget and Account Committee meeting. “We had viewed the North’s landing operations as the most serious threat to the islands near the sea border,” Kim said. “This was the first time that the North had attacked with its artillery, and I admit that we were unprepared for such a provocation.” “As we suffered a surprise attack, we’ll come up with firm defense measures and will not allow any more

Nov 29, 2010

Seoul mulls new command for West Sea defense

By Jung Sung-ki A fresh series of explosion sounds were heard around noon near Yeonpyeong Island, heightening tension in the West Seas. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) later said the sounds appeared to be related to North Korea’s artillery drill within the North’s territory. There were sounds of at least six explosions between 12:20 p.m. and 3 p.m., but no shells landed in waters on either side of the sea border, JCS spokesman Col. Lee Bung-woo told reporters. The North’s artillery drill comes as South Korea prepares to contain any further provocations. The government is considering creating a new integrated command of marines, ground troops, sailors and airmen for the defense of islands near the tense western sea border with North Korea, a government source said Friday. The idea for a division-level integrated command was reported to President Lee Myung-bak, the source said. The move comes amid growing calls to boost the country’s military capability on the islands near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the flash point for inter-Korean conflicts. “In the aftermath

Nov 26, 2010

NK leader visited west coast before shelling

By Jung Sung-ki It appears North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is found to have visited a local fish farm near an artillery base in the West Sea before Tuesday’s deadly shelling of a South Korean island, according to a picture released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Thursday. The picture has stoked speculation that the attack on Yeonpyeong Island was approved by the reclusive leader. The picture shows Kim’s youngest son, Jong-un, and Kim Myong-guk, a four-star general and chief of the People’s Army General Staff in charge of operations, accompanying the leader. The farm is in Ryongyon, South Hwanghae Province, which faces South Korea’s Baengnyeong Island and is referred to as a strategic post with a heavy concentration of artillery batteries just like Gangryeong, from where North Korea fired some 170 shells at the island in the South. “Kim Jong-il used to visit nearby military bases whenever he takes on-the-spot tours of the local provinces,” a military source said. “So it’s likely that he visited a base of the frontline Fourth Corps before t

Nov 25, 2010

N. Korea fired fuel-air shells on Yeonpyeong

By Jung Sung-ki North Korea used a new type of artillery shell capable of penetrating concrete walls and causing fires in Tuesday’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, military investigators said Thursday. The “special shell” similar to a thermobaric weapon, known as a fuel-air bomb, is believed to have been deployed since 1985, they said. A team of investigators has recovered some 20 duds that landed on the island for analysis. “After initial analysis of shells fired from the North, we’ve concluded that they are of a type that can penetrate concrete walls and maximize fires,” an investigator said on condition of anonymity. The weapon has lethal capabilities as it creates superheat and high pressure when it explodes, he added. A day earlier, Rep. Song Young-sun of the Future Hope Alliance, a minor opposition party, claimed at a parliamentary session that the North used thermobaric shells in its attacks on Yeonpyeong Island. Song said she reached the conclusion after analyzing the scenes of explosions shown on TV footage with researchers at the

Nov 25, 2010

Military under fire for passive responses

By Jung Sung-ki Defense Minister Kim Tae-young was under criticism Wednesday for South Korean forces’ passive response to the North’s unprecedented shelling of South Korean territory the previous day. The North launched 170 artillery shells onto South Korean marine bases and civilian areas on Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, killing two marines and two civilians, and wounding 15 other soldiers. Three civilians were wounded. The North used both direct-firing guns and howitzers. It first fired about 150 shells between 2:34 p.m. and 2:46 p.m. and launched 20 more shots between 3:12 p.m. and 3:29 p.m. South Korean forces, however, fired back only 80 shells from K9 self-propelled howitzers 13 minutes after the North opened fire. Lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties said the South should have retaliated with more shots and better firepower. “Over a hundred shells from the North landed in separate places, so we couldn’t figure out initially how many were there,” an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters. “A commander on the spot had to ma

Nov 24, 2010

1st NK attack on S. Korean soil

By Jung Sung-ki North Korea’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeng Island Tuesday is the first of its kind since the Korean War. The communist state has occasionally conducted provocative action near land and sea borders but it had never shelled South Korean territory to claim the lives of South Koreans. Analysts say this is one of the most serious clashes since the Korean War ended without a peace treaty in 1953, further escalating cross-border tensions. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North’s coastal artillery batteries aimed at South Korean Marine bases and civilian areas in an apparent move to kill soldiers and island residents. The North fired shells from bases in Gaemeori and Mudo, 12 to 13 kilometers from Yeonpyeong. The North Korean army is believed to have about eight 27-kilometer-range 130mm howitzers and eight 76 guns with a range of 12 kilometers. By number, the North is said to have deployed about 1,000 artillery pieces on islands near the NLL. Most are known to be hidden in mountain caves and tunnels. Yeonpyeong Island lies only about 12 kilomet

Nov 23, 2010

Seoul, Beijing seek closer defense logistics ties

By Jung Sung-ki South Korean and Chinese defense officials will hold a conference on logistics support and cooperation on Nov. 23 in Beijing, Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense said Monday. The planned meeting is the sixth of its kind since 2001, it said in a news release. The conference is designed to help both sides understand bilateral logistics structures and policies and promote their partnership, it said. The two countries are also pushing ahead with signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on disaster relief cooperation, according to the release. “As both countries share the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea’s nuclear issue, the upcoming logistics conference is expected to help increase bilateral cooperation as well as lay the groundwork for the signing of the MOU on disaster relief,” the release said.

Nov 22, 2010

Defense