Border island to have NK monitoring center

Baengnyeong Island / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

A surveillance center dedicated to monitoring possible military provocations from North Korea will open on the South's northernmost island, officials said Sunday.

Ongjin County has agreed with the Marine Corps to establish the center on Baengnyeong Island that will control about 40 surveillance cameras installed there, officials said.

The move will enhance combat readiness against North Korea.

Ongjin County has reviewed the plan for the past three months, following the Marine Corps' proposal in May.

The plan is almost finalized, according to county officials.

They met police and Marine Corps officials at Baengnyeong town office, Monday, to discuss the location of the center, to establish restricted areas, and to choose a center manager.

Ongjin, which is comprised of 25 inhabited islands and 75 others west of Incheon, has a CCTV control center at its inland headquarters.

There has been criticism that this delays the Marine Corps' response in emergencies near the border islands, including Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, which are just below the de-facto inter-Korean western sea border of the Northern Limit Line.

The marines on the islands had to move back to inland to monitor the situation on CCTVs.

There was also an issue when the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, killing four South Koreans and injuring 19.

A new control center is expected to enable the Marine Corps to watch situations in real-time, officials said.

The county is in the final stages of negotiations with telecommunications company KT, which will transmit the video footage to the center.

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