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Seoul announces large-scale drill aimed at North near Yeonpyeong Island
by Joseph Yun Li-sun
A year since the South Korean island was shelled, and four people killed by North Korea, South Korea is set to conduct large-scale exercises in the contested area.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – A year since the North Korean military launched an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea is getting ready to conduct large-scale military exercises on land, sea and air near the two countries' disputed border. A South Korean source said the drill is meant to stop Pyongyang from trying again and remind the North that the South has not forgotten. The exercises are scheduled to last all day tomorrow.
On 23 November 2010, a North Korean launched 170 shells or rockets at Yeonpyeong Island on the Yellow Sea borderline, briefly sparking fears of all-out war.
The Stalinist regime does not recognise the line that was drawn unilaterally after the Korean War.
The incident, which saw two marines and two civilians killed, caused widespread panic
Tomorrow’s drill is meant to simulate a response to a hypothetical North Korean bombardment.
A year later, many islanders are still suffering from the psychological effects of the attack. “Every time I hear a loud noise outside, I am startled and everything comes back to me. I feel nervous, and I can't sleep,” one said.
“G,” a 68-year-old woman, is still unable to sleep unless she takes medicine to relieve her anxiety.
“Some of the older people leave for the mainland because of fear whenever military base exercises are announced, only coming back when the exercises are over,” another resident said.
(Theresa Kim Hwa-young contributed to the article)