A large-scale joint maritime mobility drill involving South Korean Army, Navy and Air Force was carried out in waters off Pyeongtaek port in Gyeonggi on Nov. 29 in an effort to strengthen joint readiness against Norht Korea’s infiltration through the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea.
NLL is the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea.
The joint drill was organized to remember the North’s shelling on Yeonpyeong Island November last year and to beef up combat spirit. Some 20 warships, including 4,400-ton DDH-II destroyers, frigates and Patrol Combat Corvettes, were mobilized in the exercise.
In particular, a Lynx helicopter, a P-3C surveillance plane and Air Force fighter jets also took part in the drill to trace the whereabouts of possible North Korea’s submarines infiltrating through NLL.
The drill began with a simulated enemy’s patrol boat intruding NLL. Upon a discovery of the simulated enemy’s intrusion, the 2nd Fleet of the Navy issued an immediate order to combat ships to sail off and reported the status to upper units as well as other related agencies.
While maintaining a combat posture to the highest degree, South Korean warships swiftly reached an operation theater and completely destroyed the simulated enemy boat with counterattacks after the boat first attacked. Also South Korean warships conducted training on actual dropping of depth charges after detecting a simulated enemy submarine intruding underwater.
After finishing maritime shooting drill, South Korean warships carried out joint Martime Counter Special Operation Force exercise with the Army and Air Force aimed at destroying simulated enemy’s special forces trying to land on the ground of the Yellow Sea’s coastline.
“The joint drill is designed to focus on enhancing joint combat capabilities,” said a senior navy officer at the Navy headquarters within the Gyeryongdae complex in South Chungcheong. “All sailors were able to acquire strong self-confidence to destroy any attacks from enemy immediately through the exercise.”
In the meantime, Vice Adm. Koo Ok-hyoe, chief of naval operations, had visited Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 24 to inspect readiness of frontline naval and marine units and have a tactics discussion session.
Koo’s visit to Yeonpyeong was made to recall a tragedy of the North’s deadly attack on the island, check South Korea’s immediate readiness posture and reaffirm strong resolution with troops on the island to completely counterattack against any further provocations from North Korea.
Koo received reports on measures to confirm the sources of enemy’s attack from high-ranked marine officers and inspected capabilities of K-9 self-propelled artilleries in operation. He also checked operational cooperative system in case of emergencies.
“Soldiers on Yeonpyeong Island at the time of the attack a year ago showed strong military spirit and it impressed all Korean people,” Koo said. “I urge both the Navy and Marine Corps to cooperate closely and counterattack against further enemy’s attack immediately.”