Korea to hold live-fire drills despite NK threat

Korea to hold live-fire drills despite NK threat

South Korea is set to hold live-fire drills near its western border islands Monday, despite North Korea's threat of retaliation. Military officials said the "routine" drills will be the second of their kind this year and will involve self-propelled howitzers, Vulcans, mortars and Cobra attack helicopters. They will take place in waters near Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands, located just south of the tense Yellow Sea border with North Korea. They're designed to help the military maintain its combat readiness in the Yellow Sea. Marine Corps units in the area will notify island residents to evacuate into safe zones before the drills begin, officials added. Military officials said they notified North Korea of the scheduled drills through its representatives at the truce village of Panmumjom on Sunday. But hours after the notification, the North's military vowed to "promptly make merciless retaliatory strikes" if the South violates its territorial waters, saying the drills amounted to a "premeditated military provocation." North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, killing two Marines and two civilians in the first North Korean attack on South Korean territory since the 1950-53 Korean War. In Sunday's warning, the North said the South "should not forget the lesson" from the Yeonpyeong bombing. A South Korean official said weather permitting, the drills are expected to last for about two hours Monday morning. "We're keeping a close eye on the North Korean military," the official said. "If North Korea provokes us, we will strike back and exercise our right to self-defense." (Yonhap)