Asia-Pacific

ROK to conduct war games amid tensions

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-01-04 18:04

SEOUL - The Republi of Korea (ROK)'s Navy and Marine Corps plan to hold two-day war games starting Friday in an effort to guard against potential infiltration by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) into ROK border islands, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

Related readings:  DPRK, ROK voice possibility of new detente  DPRK calls for better relations with ROK  ROK to speak on security as tensions start to ease  DPRK criticizes ROK's move of calling it an 'enemy'

The computer-simulated war games against infiltration attempts by the DPRK will be the first of their kind, as security concerns rise on border islands in the Yellow Sea following the DPRK's shelling attack last November on one of the five front-line islands.

The upcoming maneuvers are expected to enhance joint interoperability of marines and naval forces, a defense ministry official said.

The ROK conducted a series of military drills last year in response to Pyongyang's alleged torpedo attack on a ROK warship and its artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island.

The ROK recently defined its wartime rival as its "enemy" in its latest defense white paper, scrapping the more nuanced description of "direct military threat," adopted in 2004 amid conciliatory mood.

Pyongyang, which strongly railed at Seoul's military exercises and threatened counteraction, called the move a "declaration of war."