South Korea stages live-fire military drill
Iran Press TV
Fri Nov 21, 2014 9:27AM GMT
The South Korean army has staged a live-fire military drill near the maritime border with the North amid growing tensions between the two neighboring countries.
According to media reports, the live-fire exercise, which was held on Friday, wrapped up nearly two weeks of an annual military drill involving more than 300,000 troops across South Korea.
The 12-day Hoguk drills included all branches of service, including the South Korean army, navy, air force and marine corps, and were held across the country.
The Friday wargame was held on two front-line islands, one of which came under a shelling attack by North Korea in November 2010. The incident killed four people and triggered fears of a full-scale conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea denounced the drill as a dangerous provocation, warning that Seoul should learn a lesson from the 2010 incident.
In recent years, South Korea has conducted several joint military drills with the United States on the Korean Peninsula despite condemnation from Pyongyang.
Pyongyang wants South Korea to cancel all military drills with the US if Seoul is sincere about improving relations.
In the past few months, the land and sea borders between the two countries have seen a number of minor skirmishes involving exchanges of fire, but with no reported casualties.
In October, the two Koreas agreed to resume a high-level dialogue. However, both sides have since then traded allegations of insincerity.
The Korean Peninsula has been locked in a cycle of military rhetoric since the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. No peace deal has been signed since then, meaning that Pyongyang and Seoul remain technically at war.
JR/MKA/KA
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