SEOUL, June 26 (Korea Bizwire) – The Marine Corps on Wednesday resumed full-scale live-fire exercises on islands near the tense inter-Korean maritime border for the first time in seven years, following South Korea’s suspension of an inter-Korean pact that had restricted such drills.
This resumption follows South Korea’s complete suspension of the 2018 inter-Korean tension reduction accord in early June, which had banned live-fire drills in waters near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) — the de facto maritime boundary between the two Koreas.
The multiple launch rocket system Chunmoo fires missiles toward the sea off Yeonpyeong Island, which borders North Korea in the Yellow Sea, on June 26, 2024, marking the reopening of live-fire drills for the first time in seven years following South Korea’s suspension of the inter-Korean military accord signed in 2018, prompted by a series of recent North Korean provocations. The Marine Corps provided this photo.
The drills, which included K9 howitzers, Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher systems, and Spike anti-tank missiles, were conducted on Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands in the Yellow Sea, just south of the NLL. According to the Marine Corps, troops fired over 290 rounds into the waters off these islands.
“It marked the first maritime firing exercise on the northwestern islands since the September 19 military agreement was fully suspended due to North Korea’s provocations, such as jamming GPS signals and missile launches,” the Marine Corps stated. “Even after today’s exercise, we will continue to enhance the Marine Corps’ firepower operations capabilities and maintain a robust military readiness posture through regular maritime firing exercises.”
The Marine Corps last conducted a full-scale live-fire exercise on these islands in 2017, prior to the signing of the military accord on September 19, 2018. This accord established a maritime buffer zone that banned such drills to reduce cross-border tensions.
On June 4, South Korea suspended the deal in response to the North’s launches of trash-carrying balloons into the South and attempts to disrupt GPS signals near the border islands. According to Seoul’s defense ministry, North Korea has violated the deal approximately 3,600 times by firing coastal artillery shells into the maritime buffer zone, among other acts.
South Korea had previously conducted live-fire drills on the islands on a limited scale in January, in response to the North’s artillery firing into the waters at that time.
The Marine Corps described the latest exercise as “defensive” and noted that it was observed by the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission, which oversees the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
The waters near the NLL have been a flashpoint between the two Koreas, with three bloody naval skirmishes occurring in 1999, 2002, and 2009. In November 2010, North Korea bombarded Yeonpyeong Island, resulting in the deaths of two Marines and two civilians. Earlier that year, the North torpedoed a South Korean warship near Baengnyeong Island, killing 46 sailors.
North Korea has never recognized the NLL, demanding that it be redrawn further south. Since late last month, North Korea is estimated to have launched more than 2,000 trash-carrying balloons in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets sent by North Korean defectors in the South.
The exercise also took place just hours after the North’s launch of a ballistic missile that exploded in midair, according to the South Korean military.
Image credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
