South Korea conducts gunnery drills near NLL

The Marine Corps on Tuesday conducted live-fire naval drills using K9 self-propelled howitzers near the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea. The exercises proceeded as scheduled despite speculation they might be suspended, as the government has recently stressed easing inter-Korean tensions and the Defense Ministry last month formally proposed inter-Korean military talks to establish a baseline for the Military Demarcation Line inside the Demilitarized Zone.

The Northwest Islands Defense Command said the Marine Corps’ 6th Brigade and the Yeonpyeong Unit completed their fourth-quarter naval gunnery drills without incident. The exercise began at about 2 p.m. and lasted roughly an hour. Officials said K9 self-propelled howitzers were deployed and more than 100 rounds were fired. The drills were held about three months after the previous exercise on Sept. 24 and marked the fourth such drill conducted this year, one in each quarter.

At the same time, the Northwest Islands Defense Command emphasized that the exercise was conducted in South Korean waters south of the Northern Limit Line and was annual and defensive in nature. The command stressed that the drills were not intended to provoke North Korea.

In June, the first live-fire naval drills in the Northwest Islands area under the Lee Jae-myung administration involved firing more than 200 rounds using K9 howitzers and other weapons. About 170 rounds were fired in September. This time, the number of rounds was reported to be fewer than 150. Some observers viewed this as a sign that the government had adjusted the scale of the exercise to create conditions for dialogue with North Korea. Weapons used in previous drills, including Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers and Spike anti-tank missiles, were not fired during this exercise. A military official dismissed that interpretation, saying the level of fire was determined by local weather conditions and unit readiness, not by an effort to scale back the drills out of consideration for North Korea.

Concerns were also raised that North Korea could respond to the drills with provocations near the Northern Limit Line, including the possible deployment of new destroyers. In October, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un released images of himself inspecting the Choe Hyon, a new 5,000-ton destroyer often described as North Korea’s version of an Aegis-equipped ship. The images showed an electronic navigation chart on a monitor inside the combat control room that displayed areas near the West Sea Northern Limit Line, a move widely interpreted as signaling potential provocations in the area.

A military official said there have been no signs so far of North Korean military activity near the Northern Limit Line. The official added that while North Korea appears to view South Korea’s naval gunnery drills as routine exercises, the military remains fully prepared for any contingency.


Hyo-Ju Son hjson@donga.com