South Korea ends one-day military drill

Colonel Lee Boong-Woo, spokesman of South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks during a briefing on the live-fire exercise on Yeonpyeong Island, at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Monday, December 20, 2010

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156292.html


South Korea has completed its one-day maritime artillery drills from a front-line island attacked last month by North Korea.

South Korea said it launched fighter jets to deter any North Korean attacks during the hour-long drills on Yeonpyeong Island, the Yonhap news agency reported on Monday.

The live-fire naval exercise ended peacefully after one hour and 34 minutes with no immediate reaction from the North.

The island was shelled by the North after similar drills last month.

The North considers the waters around Yeonpyeong its territory and has threatened to retaliate for any new drills.

The military exercise took place in waters just south of Yeonpyeong Island where a North Korean shelling on November 23 killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.

The North has accused the South of provoking the attack because shells from a South Korean military drill landed in the North's waters.

On Sunday, South Korea ordered thousands to find shelter in preparation for the drill while the United Nations' Security Council wrangled for nearly eight hours over growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula before ending its emergency meeting without a unified statement.

About 8,000 residents were ordered to take cover in Yeonpyeong, Baengnyeong, Daecheong, Socheong and Udo in the hours leading up to the drills.

North Korea said over the weekend that the planned exercises were designed to violate the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953 and "ignite war at any cost.”