Marine Corps commands hold joint drills on western border islands

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Two Marine Corps commands are conducting joint regular drills this week to verify key capabilities to defend the western islands along the inter-Korean border, the Marine Corps said Thursday.

The Marine Corps Command and the Northwest Islands Defense Command began the exercise Monday for a five-day run, training along the western border islands of Baeknyeong, Yeonpyeong and adjacent others, the armed force said in a release.

The annual exercise, which involves some 6,000 troops and key assets, is aimed at verifying integrated response capabilities and maintaining a robust defense posture across the northwestern islands bordering North Korea, the Marine Corps said.

The exercise comes as part of the Hoguk annual exercise being conducted by the South Korean military, partly joined by U.S. forces.

The drills are designed to counter complex enemy provocations involving artillery fire, high-speed aircraft, cruise missiles and suicide drones, the Marine Corps said.

This year's maneuvers feature both field training exercises and command post exercises to reflect evolving modern warfare tactics and lessons learned from recent global conflicts, it added.

As part of the Hoguk drills, the Air Force said it conducted interception drills earlier this week to train joint air defense procedures against salvo attack threats involving an enemy's manned and unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

The exercise simulated a scenario where large clusters of unidentified radar tracks approached South Korean airspace and the Air Force practiced scrambling fighter jets and using surface-to-air missile systems, including Cheongung interceptors.

The exercise involved around 40 aircraft, including the F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets and the KA-1 light attack aircraft. Ground and naval assets also joined the operations, incorporating Army air defense missile systems, along with Navy destroyers and frigates.

elly@yna.co.kr
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