The South Korean military has postponed planned live-fire artillery exercises. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jun. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean military has postponed planned live-fire artillery exercises, a move seen as an effort to manage escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, according to officials.
On June 17, the South Korean marine corps was expected to conduct drills using K9 self-propelled howitzers around the islands of Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong, near the maritime border with North Korea. It would have been the first such exercises in that area in six years following the government’s suspension of the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement earlier this month.
However, the drills were delayed after details were reported in advance by media outlets, with concerns that premature publicity could influence the timing, according to military officials. The postponement also came after North Korea refrained from additional provocations following the South’s resumption of propaganda broadcasts in response to North Korean leafleting.
Some analysts suggest the delay allows South Korea to retain the live-fire exercises as potential leverage as it calibrates its response amid heightened military activities from Pyongyang.
The army had likewise planned live-fire drills with K-239 Cheonmu multiple rocket launchers in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province on June 13 before postponing them. Officials cited the need to maintain forward-deployed artillery units due to recent “unsettling” movements by North Korean forces that included sending balloons carrying anti-Seoul leaflets across the border.
“Artillery drills are important, but maintaining readiness is also crucial,” said an army official, adding the exercises would likely take place before the end of June.
At a briefing, Seo Woo-seok, an army spokesman, said training schedules were being reviewed considering “overall circumstances including maintenance of combat readiness.”
Separately, South Korean intelligence has detected signs of various military activities by North Korea near the Demilitarized Zone and the Northern Limit Line, the maritime border, according to Lee Seong-joon of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. These include reinforcing tactical roads, laying minefields, clearing vegetation and installing anti-tank obstacles.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
