South Korean military officials said on Thursday that they would initiate live-fire artillery drills this weekend from Saturday to Tuesday, on Yeonpyeong Island, the same island shelled by North Korea last month.
“The exact timing of the drill will be fixed later after considering weather and other relevant conditions,” said Col. Lee Bung-woo, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), according to Yonhap News Agency.
The officials also said that the United Nations Command responsible for handling the 1953 Korean War armistice could observe the drill.
If North Korea starts provocative actions during the exercises, Seoul will “firmly and strongly respond,” according to the agency.
This first artillery exercise takes place on the frontline of the disputed island, since North Korea’s attack killed four South Koreans, and damaged homes and property.
The North claimed that it would react if any shelling landed in its waters around the island, which Pyongyang claims ownership to. Both the North and the South have been in a state of war since a ceasefire ended the Korean War conflict. Both Koreas make claims to disputed territories in the Yellow Sea.
“These are routine exercises. There’s nothing, you know, provocative or unusual or threatening about [them]. The North Koreans have been notified about what South Korea plans to do,” said U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley at a press briefing on Thursday.
U.S. officials said that Pyongyang knows what it should do to normalize dialogue with the international community.
“One is to cease provocations. A second is to reduce tensions in the region. A third is to improve its relationship with South Korea,” Crowley told reporters.
“The exact timing of the drill will be fixed later after considering weather and other relevant conditions,” said Col. Lee Bung-woo, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), according to Yonhap News Agency.
The officials also said that the United Nations Command responsible for handling the 1953 Korean War armistice could observe the drill.
If North Korea starts provocative actions during the exercises, Seoul will “firmly and strongly respond,” according to the agency.
This first artillery exercise takes place on the frontline of the disputed island, since North Korea’s attack killed four South Koreans, and damaged homes and property.
The North claimed that it would react if any shelling landed in its waters around the island, which Pyongyang claims ownership to. Both the North and the South have been in a state of war since a ceasefire ended the Korean War conflict. Both Koreas make claims to disputed territories in the Yellow Sea.
“These are routine exercises. There’s nothing, you know, provocative or unusual or threatening about [them]. The North Koreans have been notified about what South Korea plans to do,” said U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley at a press briefing on Thursday.
U.S. officials said that Pyongyang knows what it should do to normalize dialogue with the international community.
“One is to cease provocations. A second is to reduce tensions in the region. A third is to improve its relationship with South Korea,” Crowley told reporters.
