South Korea's military said Thursday it plans to hold a live-fire artillery drill this week or early next week on a front-line island devastated by North Korea's bombardment last month.
North Korea justified its Nov. 23 attack on Yeonpyeong Island near the tense Yellow Sea border by claiming it was a retaliation to a similar drill by South Korean troops during which the South dropped shells into its waters.
The South's military said it was conducting a routine drill at the time of the attack, accusing the North of staging a premeditated and inhumane
military aggression that killed two civilians and as many marines.
Since the attack, the South's military has delayed its pre-scheduled live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong, citing concerns about the safety of the island's remaining residents and weather conditions.
"The military decided to hold a one-day live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong Island between Dec. 18 and 21," said Col. Lee Bung-woo, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). "The exact timing of the drill will be fixed later after considering weather and other relevant conditions."
The JCS spokesman said artillery guns in the planned drill will be aimed away from the North, as usual.
The planned drill on Yeonpyeong will be observed by officials from the Military Armistice Commission of the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) to ensure that it is carried out in accordance with the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, Lee said.
When asked about the safety of some 120 residents on Yeonpyeong, Lee said, "They will be advised to leave the island before the drill starts. If some of them want to stay, they will be taken to shelters before the drill."
Some 20 officers from the U.S. forces in South Korea will also take part in the planned drill by providing medical and communications support, Lee said. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in the South, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Lee said the South's military "will firmly and strongly respond" should North Korea attempt provocations during the drill. He declined to give details on military assets that will be mobilized for the drill.
Days after the Nov. 23 attack, South Korea and the U.S. staged four days of large-scale naval drills off the Yellow Sea with a nuclear-power U.S. aircraft carrier taking part. The South's military has also conducted naval
firing drills off all three coasts since the bombardment, but none have taken place near the Yellow Sea islands.
North Korea has warned of "a merciless counter-attack" if South Korean shells intrude into its territorial waters during the drills.
The attack on Yeonpyeong marked the North's first strike on a civilian area in the South's territory since the end of the Korean War. Most of some 1,300 residents on the fishing island fled to the mainland after the attack.
To beef up defense on Yeonpyeong, which has a base for the marines, the JCS has deployed surface-to-air missiles, more K-9 self-propelled howitzers and 130-millimeter multiple launch rocket systems.
North Korea fired about 170 artillery shells onto Yeonpyeong, and South Korean marines stationed on the island managed to fire just 80 rounds in return.
South Korean officials have vowed to hit back hard at the North, including the use of air power, if it attacks again.