Asia-Pacific

S Korea sticks to planned naval drills

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-03 17:25

SEOUL - Anti-submarine exercises slated for later this week will be carried out as planned, despite the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s warning of a "powerful physical retaliation", local media reported quoting military officials here.

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The drills will be held from August 5 through August 9 in waters off the west coast of the divided Korean peninsula, only days after Seoul and Washington staged large-scale joint air and naval drills in waters east of the peninsula as a show of solidarity.

Pyongyang strongly condemned the planned exercises earlier Tuesday in a statement, calling it an "open military attack" to defend the de facto maritime border by "dangerous political provocation."

The DPRK does not acknowledge the contentious sea border called the Northern Limit Line, a scene of a few naval skirmishes between the two wartime rivals.

"The drills will take place in South Korean waters and of defensive nature," an unnamed military official was quoted as telling Seoul's Yonhap News Agency, dismissing the DPRK's claim.

Seoul and Washington are planning a new round of massive joint military exercises in waters off the west coast of the peninsula, where 46 South Korean sailors were killed in March in the warship sinking. The DPRK has repeatedly denied its involvement.