23 December 2016

News Report: S Korea Conducts Drills to Practice Repelling Potential Attacks by Pyongyang

South Korean K-9 Artillery during an Exercise in 2010
The South Korean military conducted combined drills using tanks and armored vehicles to practice repelling potential attacks by North Korea in the winter time, local media reported Thursday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — The drills were conducted at a shooting range in Yangpyeong, near the country's capital of Seoul, and involved about 40 units of the K-1 tanks, the K-21 armored fighting vehicles and other military equipment, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The South Korean servicemen practiced generating smoke screens, eliminated land mines and other barriers, and constructed an armored vehicle-launched bridge, according to the news agency. 

Earlier this month, media reported that North Korea carried out military exercises simulating an attack on the official residence of the South Korean president in Seoul. 

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula intensified in September after Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear warhead, having previously detonated a hydrogen bomb in January.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.