The military also plans to conduct naval firing exercises off the east coast from Wednesday through Friday that will include six naval ships and Lynx anti-submarine helicopters.
A Navy official said that the exercise will be held about 100 kilometers south of the eastern sea maritime border with the North. Nearby Army units will be on heightened vigilance during the drill, the official said.
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South Korean Marines remain in combat-ready posture on Yeonpyeong Island in this file photo taken on Dec. 21. (Yonhap)
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Tensions on the divided peninsula remain high after the North’s deadly shelling of the South’s Yeonpyeong Island in November, as well as the South’s live-fire drill from the same island earlier this week that had been feared to lead to a fresh clash between the two sides.
Though the North did not carry out its threat to strike back if the South pushes ahead with the exercise, there are still concerns that the communist nation could stage unforeseen attacks on the South.
The defense ministry said that the military is maintaining readiness to strike immediately back at the North in case of provocations in the western land and sea border regions, including the front-line Aegibong hill where the South lit up a giant Christmas tree that Pyongyang sees as psychological warfare.
The ministry also plans to keep military alertness at the highest level for the northernmost islands and other border regions for the time being, while continuing to put fighter jets on mid-air standby.
Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told lawmakers Tuesday that the military will maintain such readiness until North Korean threats drop visibly. Kim also said that new provocations by the North would likely be surprise attacks, and the South is prepared for various scenarios.
North Korea has also reportedly deployed more surface-to-ship and surface-to-air missiles along its west coast while keeping fighter jets ready to scramble.
The two Koreas are still technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The western sea border has been a constant source of military tension between the two sides as the North refuses to recognize the boundary.
