Seoul plans to initiate military drill on Dokdo

South Korean protesters chant during a rally to denounce Japan's new trade restrictions on South Korea in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, Aug. 3. AP-Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

In a move to protest Japan's decision to remove it from a list of trusted trading partners, South Korea plans to hold a joint military exercise on a cluster of islets that sits in the sea between the neighboring countries, a government source said Sunday.

“The Ministry of Defense is considering conducting a joint defense drill on Dokdo this month,” the source said, Sunday. However, he was reluctant to provide specifics as the ministry has not confirmed the details of its plan.

Military exercises were first conducted near the tiny land mass in 1986 and they were made a biannual practice since 2003 with naval ships, marines, military aircraft, maritime patrol boats and relevant combat personnel participating. A 3,200-ton of naval destroyer, maritime patrol vessels, P-3C anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft and F-15K fighters are typically mobilized during the drill, according to the ministry.

The exercise has taken on extra significance as tension has been running high between Seoul and Tokyo since Japan's decision to exclude Seoul from the list.

South Korea and Japan have long been feuding over the rocky and mostly uninhabited territory, which Seoul calls Dokdo and Tokyo calls Takeshima. Whenever the defense drill happens, Japan lodges a protest.

But so far this year, the defense ministry hasn't held the defense drill as South Korea was avoiding confrontation with Japan with the aim of resolving the trade row. During a rare live television broadcast of his Cabinet meeting, President Moon Jae-in strongly threatened some countermeasures after Tokyo approved the removal of South Korea's fast-track export status beginning from Aug. 28. “South Korea won't be defeated by Japan, again,” Moon said at the start of the meeting.

“South Korea has intentionally postponed the drill because we were exploring opportunities to mend the souring bilateral relationship. But the efforts were in vain as Japan was making the situation worse. We will do what we can do,” said the source.