South Korea holds 1st live-fire drills under President Lee: Report

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) - South Korea on Wednesday held its first live-fire drills near the inter-Korean maritime border since President Lee Jae-myung took office, local media reported, citing the military.

The exercise, featuring K9 self-propelled howitzers, was conducted on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) — a disputed maritime border between North and South Korea — during which troops fired approximately 200 rounds into the nearby waters.

"The Northwest Islands Defense Command will continue to protect national sovereignty and do its best to maintain the operational posture of the troops of northwestern island units," the South Korean military said, Yonhap news agency reported.

Earlier this month, Lee pledged to "stop the exhausting hostilities" with North Korea and resume inter-Korean dialogue and collaboration.

Lee, sworn in this month, also ended South Korea’s year-long propaganda loudspeaker campaign along the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone. North Korea has reportedly silenced its loudspeakers as well.

The waters near the NLL have been a flashpoint between the two Koreas, with three bloody naval skirmishes occurring in 1999, 2002, and 2009.

In March 2010, Pyongyang torpedoed a South Korean warship near the sea border, killing 46 sailors. In November of that year, the North bombarded Yeonpyeong, a South Korean border island, killing two civilians and two Marines.

North Korea has refused to recognize the NLL and has called for it to be redrawn farther south.